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FRANKENSTEIN: 


OR, 





THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


BY THE AUTHOR OF 



THE LAST MAN, PERKIN WARBECK, 


&c. &c. 


V. 


’’ / 


REVISED, CORRECTED, 

AND ILLUSTRATED WITH A NEVV INTRODUCTION. 
BY THE AUTHOR. 


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LONDON: 

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET; 

AND BELL & BRADFUTE, EDINBURGH. 









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V 


INTRODUCTION. 


The Publishers of the Standard Novels, in selecting 
“ Frankenstein” for one of their series, expressed a 
wish that I should furnish them with some account 
of the origin of the story. I am the more willing to 
comply, because I shall thus give a general answer to 
the question, so very frequently asked me — “ How J, 
then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, 
so very hideous an idea?” It is true that I an) very 
averse to bringing myself forward in print; but as my 
account will only appear as an appendage to a former 
production, and as it will be confined to such topics as 
have connection with my authorship alone, I can 
scarcely accuse myself of a personal intrusion. 

It is not singular that, as the daughter of two per¬ 
sons of distinguished literary celebrity, I should 
very early in life have thought of writing. As a child 
I scribbled; and my favourite pastime, during the 
hours given me for recreation, was to “ write stories.” 
Still I had a dearer pleasure than this, which was the 
formation of castles in the air — the indulging in 
waking dreams — the following up trains of thought, 
which had for their subject the formation of a 
succession of imaginary incidents. My dreams were 
at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings. 

7n the latter T was a close imita f Or— rathe** doing 

a 3 



VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


as others had done, than putting down the sug¬ 
gestions of my own mind. What I wrote was intended 
at least for one other eye — my childhood’s companion 
and friend; but my dreams were all my own ; I .ac¬ 
counted for them to nobody; they were my refuge 
when annoyed — my dearest pleasure when free. 

I lived principally in the country as a girl, and 
passed a considerable time in Scotland. I made occa¬ 
sional visits to the more picturesque parts; but my 
habitual residence was on the blank and dreary northern 
shores of the Tay, near Dundee. Blank and dreary 
on retrospection I call them ; they were not so to me 
then. They were the eyry of freedom, and the 
pleasant region where unheeded I could commune with 
the creatures of my fancy. I wrote then — but in a 
most common-place style. It was beneath the trees of 
the grounds belonging to our house, or on the bleak 
sides of the woodless mountains near, that my true 
compositions, the airy flights of my imagination, were 
born and fostered. I did not make myself the heroine 
of my tales. Life appeared to me too common-place 
an affair as regarded myself. I could not figure to 
myself that romantic woes or wonderful events would 
ever be my lot; but I was not confined to my own 
identity, and I could people the hours with creations 
far more interesting to me at that age, than my own 
sensations. 

After this my life became busier, and reality stood 
in place of fiction. My husband, however, was from 
the first, very anxious that I should prove myself worthy 
of my parentage, and enrol myself on the page of fame. 
He was for ever inciting me to obtain literary reput¬ 
ation, which even on my own part I cared for then, 


INTRODUCTION. 


Vll 


enough since I have become infinitely indifferent to it. 
At this time he desired that I should write, not so 
much with the idea that I could produce any thing 
worthy of notice, but that he might himself judge how 
far I possessed the promise of better things hereafter. 
Still I did nothing. Travelling, and the cares of a 
family, occupied my time ; and study, in the way of 
reading, or improving my ideas in communication with 
his far more cultivated mind, was all of literary em¬ 
ployment that engaged my attention. 

In the summer of 1816, we visited Switzerland, and 
became the neighbours of Lord Byron. At first we 
spent our pleasant hours on the lake, or wandering on 
its shores ; and Lord Byron, who was writing the third 
canto of Childe Harold, was the only one among us 
who put his thoughts upon paper. These, as he 
brought them successively to us, clothed in all the 
light and harmony of poetry, seemed to stamp as divine 
the glories of heaven and earth, whose influences we 
partook with him. 

But it proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant 
rain often confined us for days to the house. Some 
volumes of ghost stories, translated from the German 
into French, fell into our hands. There was the His¬ 
tory of the Inconstant Lover, who, when he thought to 
clasp the bride to whom he had pledged his vows, 
found himself in the arms of the pale ghost of her 
whom he had deserted. There was the tale of the 
sinful founder of his race, whose miserable doom it 
was to bestow the kiss of death on all the younger sons 
of his fated house, just when they reached the age of 
promise. His gigantic, shadowy form, clothed like the 
ghost in Hamlet, in complete armour, but with the 


INTRODUCTION. 


• • • 

VIII 

beaver up, was seen at midnight, by the moon’s fitful 
beams, to advance slowly along the gloomy avenue. 
The shape was lost beneath the shadow of the castle 
walls ; but soon a gate swung back, a step was heard, 
the door of the chamber opened, and he advanced to 
the couch of the blooming youths, cradled in healthy 
sleep. Eternal sorrow sat upon his face as he bent 
down and kissed the forehead of the boys, who from 
that hour withered like flowers snapt upon the stalk. 
I have not seen these stories since then ; but their 
incidents are as fresh in my mind as if I had read 
them yesterday. 

“ We will each write a ghost story,” said Lord 
Byron ; and his proposition was acceded to. There 
were four of us. The noble author began a tale, a 
fragment of which he printed at the end of his poem 
of Mazeppa. Shelley, more apt to embody ideas and 
sentiments in the radiance of brilliant imagery, and in 
the music of the most melodious verse that adorns our 
language, than to invent the machinery of a story, 
commenced one founded on the experiences of his early 
life. Poor Polidori had some terrible idea about a 
skull-headed lady, who was so punished for peeping 
through a key-hole — what to see I forget — something 
very shocking and wrong of course ; but when she was 
reduced to a worse condition than the renowned Tom 
of Coventry, he did not know what to do with her, and 
was obliged to despatch her to the tomb of the Capulets, 
the only place for which she was fitted. The illustrious 
poets also, annoyed by the platitude of prose, speedily 
relinquished their uncongenial task. 

I busied myself to think of a story , — a story to rival 
those which had excited us to this task. One which 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and 
awaken thrilling horror — one to make the reader 
dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken 
the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish 
these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its 
name. I thought and pondered — vainly. I felt that 
blank incapability of invention which is the greatest 
misery of authorship, when dull Nothing replies to our 
anxious invocations. Have you thought of a story ? I 
was asked each morning, and each morning I was 
forced to reply with a mortifying negative. 

Every thing must have a beginning, to speak in San- 
chean phrase; and that beginning must be linked to 
something that went before. The Hindoos give the 
world an elephant to support it, but they make the ele¬ 
phant stand upon a tortoise. Invention, it must be 
humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of 
void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first 
place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless 
substances, but cannot bring into being the substance 
itself. In all matters of discovery and invention, even 
of those that appertain to the imagination, we are con¬ 
tinually reminded of the story of Columbus and his egg. 
Invention consists in the capacity of seizing on the 
capabilities of a subject, and in the power of moulding 
and fashioning ideas suggested to it. 

Many and long were the conversations between Lord 
Byron and Shelley, to which I was a devout but nearly 
silent listener. During one of these, various philo¬ 
sophical doctrines were discussed, and among others 
the nature of the principle of life, and whether there 
was any probability of its ever being discovered and 
communicated. They talked of the experiments of 

a 


X 


INTRODUCTION. 


Dr. Darwin, (I speak not of what the Doctor really did, or 
said that he did, but, as more to my purpose, of what was 
then spoken of as having been done by him,) who pre¬ 
served a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some 
extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary 
motion. Not thus, after all, would life be given. Per¬ 
haps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had 
given token of such things: perhaps the component 
parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought to¬ 
gether, and endued with vital warmth. 

Night waned upon this talk; and even the witching 
hour had gone by, before we retired to rest. When I 
placed my head on my pillow, I did not sleep, nor 
could I be said to think. My imagination, unbidden, 
possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images 
that arose in my mind with a vividness far beyond the 
usual bounds of reverie. I saw — with shut eyes, but 
acute mental vision — I saw the pale student of un¬ 
hallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put 
together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched 
out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, 
show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital 
motion. Frightful must it be ; for supremely frightful 
would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock 
the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world. 
His success would terrify the artist; he would rush 
away from his odious handywork, horror-stricken. He 
would hope that, left to itself, the slight spark of life 
which he had communicated would fade ; that this 
thing, which had received such imperfect animation, 
would subside into dead matter; and he might sleep in 
the belief that the silence of the grave would quench 
for ever the transient existence of the hideous corpse 


INTRODUCTION. 


«r 

XI 


which he had looked upon as the cradle of life. He 
sleeps; but he is awakened; he opens his eyes ; behold 
the horrid thing stands at his bedside, opening his cur¬ 
tains, and looking on him with yellow, watery, but 
speculative eyes. 

I opened mine in terror. The idea so possessed my 
mind, that a thrill of fear ran through me, and I wished 
to exchange the ghastly image of my fancy for the 
realities around. I see them still; the very room, the 
dark parquet , the closed shutters, with the moonlight 
struggling through, and the sense I had that the glassy 
lake and white high Alps were beyond. I could not so 
easily get rid of my hideous phantom ; still it haunted 
me. I must try to think of something else. I recurred 
to my ghost story,—my tiresome unlucky ghost story! 
O I if I could only contrive one which would frighten 
my reader as I myself had been frightened that night! 

Swift as light and as cheering was the idea that broke 
in upon me. “ I have found it I What terrified me will 
terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre 
which had haunted my midnight pillow.” On the mor¬ 
row I announced that I had thought of a story. I began 
that day with the words, It was on a dreary night of No¬ 
vember , making only a transcript of the grim terrors of 
my waking dream. 

At first I thought but of a few pages—of a short tale; 
but Shelley urged me to develope the idea at greater 
length. I certainly did not owe the suggestion of one 
incident, nor scarcely of one train of feeling, to my hus¬ 
band, and yet but for his incitement, it would never have 
taken the form in which it was presented to the world. 
From this declaration I must except the preface. As 
far as I can recollect, it was entirely written by him. 


INTRODUCTION. 


• • 

Xll 

And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go 
forth and prosper. I have an affection for it, for it wa» 
the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were 
but words, which found no true echo in my heart. Its 
several pages speak of many a walk, many a drive, and 
many a conversation, when I was not alone; and my com¬ 
panion was one whom, in this world, I shall never see 
more. But this is for myself; my readers have nothing 
to do with these associations. 

I will add but one word as to the alterations I have 
made. They are principally those of style. I have 
changed no portion of the story, nor introduced any 
new ideas or circumstances. I have mended the lan¬ 
guage where it was so bald as to interfere with the 
interest of the narrative; and these changes occur 
almost exclusively in the beginning of the first volume. 
Throughout they are entirely confined to such parts as 
are mere adjuncts to the story, leaving the core and 
substance of it untouched. 


London, October 15. 1831. 








»3 


PREFACE. 


The event on which this fiction is founded, has been 
supposed, by Dr. Darwin, and some of the physiological 
writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence. 1 
shall not he supposed as according the remotest degree of 
serious faith to such an imagination; yet, in assuming it 
as the basis of a work of fancy, I have not considered my¬ 
self as merely weaving a series of supernatural terrors. The 
event on which the interest of the story depends is exempt 
from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or en¬ 
chantment. It was recommended by the novelty of the 
situations which it developes ; and, however impossible as 
a physical fact, affords a point of view to the imagination 
for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive 
and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of 
existing events can yield. 

I have thus endeavoured to preserve the truth of the 
elementary principles of human nature, while I have not 
scrupled to innovate upon their combinations. The Iliad, 
the tragic poetry of Greece, — Shakspeare, in the Tempest, 
and Midsummer Night’s Dream, — and most especially 
Milton, in Paradise Lost, conform to this rule; and the 
most humble novelist, who seeks to confer or receive amuse¬ 
ment from his labours, may, without presumption, apply to 
prose fiction a licence, or rather a rule, from the adoption 
of which so many exquisite combinations of human feeling 
have resulted in the highest specimens of poetry. 

The circumstance on which my story rests was suggested 
in casual conversation. It was commenced partly as a 
source of amusement, and partly as an expedient for exer¬ 
cising any untried resources of mind. Other motives were 

B 



2 


PREFACE. 


mingled with these, as the work proceeded. I am by no 
means indifferent to the manner in which whatever moral 
tendencies exist in the sentiments or characters it contains 
shad affect the reader ; yet my chief concern in this respect 
has been limited to the avoiding the enervating effects of 
the novels of the present day, and to the exhibition of the 
amiableness of domestic affection, and the excellence of 
universal virtue. The opinions which naturally spring 
from the character and situation of the hero are by no 
means to be conceived as existing always in my own con¬ 
viction ; nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the 
following pages as prejudicing, any philosophical doctrine of 
whatever kind. 

It is a subject also of additional interest to the author, 
that this story was begun in the majestic region where the 
scene is principally laid, and in society whicli cannot cease 
to be regretted. I passed the summer of 1816 in the en¬ 
virons of Geneva. The season was cold and rainy, and in 
the evenings we crowded around a blazing wood fire, and 
occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of 
ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands. These tales 
excited in us a playful desire of imitation. Two other 
friends (a tale from the pen of one of whom would be far 
more acceptable to the public than any thing I can ever 
hope to produce) and myself agreed to write each a story, 
founded on some supernatural occurrence. 

The weather, however, suddenly became serene; and my 
two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, and lost, 
in the magnificent scenes which they present, all memory 
of their ghostly visions. The following tale is the only one 
which has been completed. 

Marlow, September, 1817. 


•* 






FRANKENSTEIN; 


OR, 

THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


LETTER I. 

To Mrs. Saville, England. 

St. Petersburgh, Dec. ,11th, 17—. 

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied 
the commencement of an enterprise which you have re¬ 
garded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday; 
and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare, 
and increasing confidence in d success of my undertaking. 

I am already far north of London ; and as I walk in the 
streets of Petersburgh, I feel a cold northern breeze play 
upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves, and fills me 
with delight. Do y^u understand this feeling ? This breeze, 
which has travelled from the regions towards which I am 
advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. In¬ 
spirited by this wind of promise, my day dreams become 
move fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that 
-*pole is the seat of frost and desolation ; it ever presents 
itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and de¬ 
light There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible; its 
broa disk just skirting the horizon, and diffusing a per- 
ual splendour. There—for with your leave, my sister, 
will put some trust in preceding navigators — there snow 
and frost are banished ; and, sailing over a calm sea, we 
may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in 
beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable 
globe. Its productions and features may be without ex- 

b 2 



4 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


ample, as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly 
are in those undiscovered solitudes. What may not be 
expected in a country of eternal light ? I may there dis¬ 
cover the wondrous power which attracts the needle ; and 
may regulate a thousand celestial observations, that require 
only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities con¬ 
sistent for ever. I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with 
the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and 
may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of 
man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient 
to conquer all fear of danger or death, and to induce me 
to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child 
feels when he embarks in a little boat, with his holiday mates, 
on an expedition of discovery up his native river. But, 
supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot con¬ 
test the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all 
mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage 
near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present 
so many months are requisite ; or by ascertaining the secret 
of the magnet, which, h at all possible, can only be effected 
by an undertaking such as mine. 

These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which 
I began my letter, and I feel my heart glow with an en¬ 
thusiasm which elevates me to heaven ; for nothing con¬ 
tributes so much to tranquillise the mind as a steady purpose, 
— a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. 
This expedition has been the favourite dream of my 'arly 
years. I have read with ardour the accounts of the van: is 
voyages which have been made in the prospect ot arriving 
at the North Pacific Ocean through tb# seas which surround 
the pole. You may remember, that a history of all the 
voyages made for purposes of discovery composed the whole 
of our good uncle Thomas’s library. My education was 
neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These 
volumes were my study day and night, and my familiarity 
with them increased that regret which I had felt, as a child, 
on learning that my father’s dying injunction had forbidden 
mv uncle to allow me to embark in a seafaring life. 

These visions faded when I perused, for the first time, 
those poets whose effusions entranced my soul, and 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


5 


it to heaven. I also became a poet, and for one year lived 
in a Paradise of my own creation ; 1 imagined that I also 
might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of 
Homer and Shakspeare are consecrated. You are well 
acquainted with my failure, and how heavily I bore the 
disappointment. But just at that time I inherited the for¬ 
tune of my cousin, and my thoughts were turned into the 
channel of their earlier bent. 

Six years have passed since I resolved on my present 
undertaking. I can, even now, remember the hour from 
which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise. I com¬ 
menced by inuring my body to hardship. I accompanied 
the whale-fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea; 
I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of 
sleep; I often worked harder than the common sailors during 
the day, and devoted my nights to the study of mathematics, 
the theory of medicine, and those branches of physical 
science from which a naval adventurer might derive the 
greatest practical advantage. Twice I actually hired my¬ 
self as an under-mate in a Greenland whaler, and acquitted 
myself to admiration. I must own I felt a little proud, 
when my captain offered me the second dignity in the 
vessel, and entreated me to remain with the greatest ear¬ 
nestness ; so valuable did he consider my services. 

And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish 
some great purpose ? My life might have been passed in 
ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement 
that wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging 
voice would answer in the affirmative ! My courage and 
my resolution itf* firjp; but my hopes fluctuate, and my 
spirits are often depressed. I am about to proceed on a 
long and difficult voyage, the emergencies of which 'will 
demand all my fortitude: I am required not only to raise 
the spirits of others, but sometimes to sustain my own, 
■when theirs are failing. 

This is the most favourable period for travelling in 
Russia. They fly quickly over the snow in their sledges; 
the motion is pleasant, and, in my opinion, far more agree¬ 
able than that of an English stage-coach. The cold is not 
excessive, if you are wrapped in furs,— a dress which I have 

b 3 


6 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

already adopted ; for there is a great difference between 
walking the deck and remaining seated motionless for hours, 
when no exercise prevents the blood from actually freezing 
in your veins. I have no ambition to lose my life on the 
post-road between St. Petersburgh and Archangel. 

I shall depart for the latter town in a fortnight or three 
weeks ; and my intention is to hire a ship there, which can 
easily be done by paying the insurance for the owner, and 
to engage as many sailors as I think necessary among 
those who are accustomed to the whale-fishing. I do not 
intend to sail until the month of June; and when shall I 
return ? Ah, dear sister, how can I answer this question ? 
If I succeed, many, many months, perhaps years, will pass 
before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me 
again soon, or never. 

Farewell, my dear, excellent Margaret. Heaven showier 
down blessings on you, and save me, that I may again and 
again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness. 

Your affectionate brother, 

R. Walton. 

LETTER II. 

To Mrs. Saville, England. 

Archangel, 28th March, 17— 

How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am 
by frost and snow ! yet a second step is taken towards my 
enterprise. I have hired a vessel, and am occupied in col¬ 
lecting my sailors; those whom I have already engaged, 
appear to be men on whom I can depend, and are certainly 
possessed of dauntless courage. 

But I have one want which I have never yet been able 
to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which I now 
feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret: 
when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there 
will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by 
disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in 
dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is 
true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 7 

feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sym¬ 
pathise with me; whose eyes would reply to mine. You 
may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel 
the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet 
courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious 
mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend 
my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of 
your poor brother ! I am too ardent in execution, and too 
impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me 
that I am self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my 
life I ran wild on a common, and read nothing but our 
uncle Thomas’s books of voyages. At that age I became 
acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country; 
but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to 
derive its most important benefits from such a conviction, 
that I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with 
more languages than that of my native country. Now I 
am twenty-eight, and am in reality more illiterate than 
many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought 
more, and that my day dreams are more extended and 
magnificent; but they want (as the painters call it) keeping ; 
and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough 
not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me 
to endeavour to regulate my mind. 

Well, these are useless complaints; I shall certainly find 
no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, 
among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, un¬ 
allied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these 
rugged bosoms. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of 
wonderful courage and enterprise; he is madly desirous of 
glory: or rather, to word my phrase more characteristically, 
of advancement in his profession. He is an Englishman, 
and in the midst of national and professional prejudices, 
unsoftened by cultivation, retains some of the noblest en¬ 
dowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with 
him on board a whale vessel: finding that he was unem¬ 
ployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my 
enterprise. 

The master is a person of an excellent disposition, and 
is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mild- 

B 4 


8 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

ness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his 
well known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very 
desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude, my 
best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, 
has so refined the groundwork of my character, that I can¬ 
not overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality ex¬ 
ercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be 
necessary; and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for 
his kindliness of heart, and the respect and obedience paid 
to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in 
being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in 
rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him 
the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story. 
Some years ago, he loved a young Russian lady, of mo¬ 
derate fortune; and having amassed a considerable sum in 
prize-money, the father of the girl consented to the match. 
He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony; 
but she was bathed in tears, and, throwing herself at his 
feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time 
that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her 
father would never consent to the union. My generous 
friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of 
the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. 
He had already bought a farm with his money, on which 
he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he 
bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains 
of his prize-money to purchase stock, and then himself so¬ 
licited the young woman’s father to consent to her marriage 
with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused, think¬ 
ing himself bound in honour to my friend; who, when he 
found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor re¬ 
turned until he heard that his former mistress was married 
according to her inclinations. What a noble fellow ! ” 
you, will exclaim. He is so; but then he is wholly un¬ 
educated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant 
carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his con¬ 
duct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and 
sympathy which otherwise he would command. 

Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little, or 
because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which T 


THE MuDERN PROMETHEUS. 


9 

may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions. 
Those are as fixed as fate; and my voyage is only now 
delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. 
The winter has been dreadfully severe; but the spring- 
promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early 
season ; so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. 
I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to 
confide in my prudence and considerateness, whenever the 
safety of others is committed to my care. 

I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near 
prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communi¬ 
cate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half 
pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to 
depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to “ the land of 
mist and snow; ” hut I shall kill no albatross, therefore do 
not be alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back to 
you as worn and woful as the “Ancient Mariner ? ” You 
will smile at my allusion ; but I will disclose a secret. I 
have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate 
enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean, to that 
production of the most imaginative of modern poets. 
There is something at work in my soul, which I do not 
understand. I am practically industrious—pains-taking; 
—a workman to execute with perseverance and labour: — 
but besides this, there is a love for the marvellous, a 
belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which 
hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to 
the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore. 

But to return to dearer considerations. Shall I meet 
you again, after having traversed immense seas, and 
returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America ? 
I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look 
on the reverse of- the picture. Continue for the pre¬ 
sent to write to me by every opportunity : I may re¬ 
ceive your letters on some occasions when I need them 
most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. 
Remember me with affection, should you never hear from 
me again. 

Your affectionate brother 

Robert Walton. 


10 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


LETTER III. 

To Mrs. Saville, England. 

My dear Sister, —• 

I write a few lines in haste, to say that I am safe, and 
well advanced on my voyage. This letter will reach Eng¬ 
land by a merchantman now on its homeward voyage from 
Archangel; more fortunate than I, who may not see my 
native land, perhaps, for many years. I am, how r ever, in 
good spirits: my men are bold, and apparently firm of pur¬ 
pose ; nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass 
us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we 
are advancing, appear to dismay them. We have already 
reached a very high latitude ; but it is the height of sum¬ 
mer, and although not so warm as in England, the southern 
gales, which blow us speedily towards those shores which 
I so ardently desire to attain, breathe a degree of renovat¬ 
ing warmth which I had not expected. 

No incidents have hitherto befallen us that would make 
a figure in a letter. One or two stiff gales, and the spring¬ 
ing of a leak, are accidents which experienced navigators 
scarcely remember to record ; and I shall be well content 
if nothing worse happen to us during our voyage. 

Adieu, my dear Margaret. Be assured, that for my 
own sake, as well as yours, I will not rashly encounter 
danger. I will be cool, persevering, and prudent. 

But success shall crown my endeavours. Wherefore 
not ? Thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the 
pathless seas: the very stars themselves being witnesses and 
testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over 
the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the 
determined heart and resolved will of man ? 

My swelling heart involuntarily pours itself out thus. 
But I must finish. Heaven bless my beloved sister ! 

R. W. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


11 


LETTER IV. 

To Mrs. Saville, England. 

August 5th, 17—. 

So strange an accident has happened to us, that I cannot 
forbear recording it, although it is very probable that you 
will see me before these papers can come into your pos¬ 
session. 

Last Monday (July 31st), w r e were nearly surrounded 
by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leav¬ 
ing her the sea-room in which she floated. Our situation 
was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed 
round by a very thick fog. We accordingly lay to, hoping 
that some change would take place in the atmosphere and 
weather. 

About two o’clock the mist cleared away, and we beheld, 
stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains 
of ice, which seemed to have no end. Some of my com¬ 
rades groaned, and my own mind began to grow watchful 
with anxious thoughts, when a strange sight suddenly 
attracted our attention, and diverted our solicitude from 
our own situation. We perceived a low carriage, fixed on 
a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at 
the distance of half a mile : a being which had the shape 
of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the 
sledge, and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid pro¬ 
gress of the traveller with our telescopes, until he was lost 
among the distant inequalities of the ice. 

This appearance excited our unqualified wonder. We 
were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land ; 
but this apparition seemed to denote that it was not, in 
reality, so distant as we had supposed. Shut in, however, 
by ice, it was impossible to follow his track, which we had 
observed with the greatest attention. 

About two hours after this occurrence, we heard the 
ground sea; and before night the ice broke, and freed our 
ship. We, however, lay to until the morning, fearing to 


12 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float 
about after the breaking up of the ice. I profited of this 
time to rest for a few hours. 

In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went 
upon deck, and found all the sailors busy on one side of 
the vessel, apparently talking to some one in the sea. It 
was, in fact, a sledge, like that we had seen before, which 
had drifted towards us in the night, on a large fragment of 
ice. Only one dog remained alive; but there was a human 
being within it, whom the sailors were persuading to enter 
the vessel. He was not, as the other traveller seemed to 
be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an 
European. When I appeared on deck, the master said. 

Here is our captain, and he w r ill not allow you to perish 
on the open sea.” 

On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, 
although with a foreign accent. (C Before I come on board 
your vessel,” said he, “ will you have the kindness to 
inform me whither you are bound ? ” 

You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a 
question addressed to me from a man on the brink of de¬ 
struction, and to whom I should have supposed that my 
vessel would have been a resource which he would not have 
exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can 
afford. I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of 
discovery towards the northern pole. 

Upon hearing this he appeared satisfied, and consented 
to come on board. Good God ! Margaret, if you had seen 
the man who thus capitulated for his safety, your surprise 
w’ould have been boundless. His limbs were nearly frozen, 
and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. 
I never saw a man in so wretched a condition. We at¬ 
tempted to carry him into the cabin ; but as soon as he had 
quitted the fresh air, he fainted. We accordingly brought 
him back to the deck, and restored him to animation by 
rubbing him with brandy, and forcing him to swallow a 
small quantity. As soon as he showed signs of life we 
wrapped him up in blankets, and placed him near the chim¬ 
ney of the kitchen stove. By slow degrees he recovered, 
and ate a little soup, which restored him wonderfully. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


13 


Two days passed in this manner before he was able to 
speak ; and I often feared that his sufferings had deprived 
him of understanding. When he had in some measure 
recovered, 1 removed him to my own cabin, and attended 
on him as much as my duty would permit. I never saw 
a more interesting creature: his eyes have generally an 
expression of wildness, and even madness; but there are 
moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness 
towards him, or does him any the most trifling service, his 
whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam 
of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equalled. 
But he is generally melancholy and despairing ; and some¬ 
times he gnashes his teeth, as if impatient of the weight of 
woes that oppresses him. 

When my guest was a little recovered, I had great 
trouble to keep off the men, who wished to ask him a 
thousand questions; but I would not allow him to be tor¬ 
mented by their idle curiosity, in a state of body and mind 
whose restoration evidently depended upon entire repose. 
Once, however, the lieutenant asked. Why he had come so 
far upon the ice in so strange a vehicle ? 

His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the 
deepest gloom; and he replied, “To seek one who fled 
from me.” 

“ And did the man whom you pursued travel in the same 
fashion ?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Then I fancy we have seen him ; for the day before 
we picked you up, we saw some dogs drawing a sledge, 
with a man in it, across the ice.” 

This aroused the stranger’s attention ; and he asked a 
multitude of questions concerning the route which the dre- 
mon, as he called him, had pursued. Soon after, when he 
was alone with me, he said ,—“ I have, doubtless, excited 
your curiosity, as well as that of these good people; but 
you are too considerate to make enquiries.” 

“ Certainly ; it would indeed be very impertinent and 
inhuman in me to trouble you with any inquisitiveness of 
mine.” 


14 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


“ And yet you rescued me from a strange and perilous 
situation ; you have benevolently restored me to life.” 

Soon after this he enquired if I thought that the breaking 
up of the ice had destroyed the other sledge ? I replied, that 
I could not answer with any degree of certainty; for the 
ice had not broken until near niidnight, and the traveller 
might have arrived at a place of safety before that time; 
but of this I could not judge. 

From this time a new spirit of life animated the decay¬ 
ing frame of the stranger. He manifested the greatest 
eagerness to be upon deck, to watch for the sledge which 
had before appeared; but I have persuaded him to remain 
in the cabin, for he is far too weak to sustain the rawness 
of the atmosphere. 1 have promised that some one should 
watch for him, and give him instant notice if any new ob¬ 
ject should appear in sight. 

Such is my journal of what relates to this strange occur¬ 
rence up to the present day. The stranger has gradually 
improved in health, but is very silent, and appears uneasy 
when any one except myself enters his cabin. Yet his 
manners are so conciliating and gentle, that the sailors are 
all interested in him, although they have had very little 
communication with him. For my own part, I begin to 
love him as a brother ; and his constant and deep grief fills 
me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been 
a noble creature in his better days, being even now in 
wreck so attractive and amiable. 

I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I 
should find no friend on the wide ocean; yet I have found 
a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, 
I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother 
of my heart. 

I shall continue my journal concerning the stranger at 
intervals, should I have any fresh incidents to record. 

August 13th, 17—. 

My affection for my guest increases every day. fie ex¬ 
cites at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing 
degree. How can I see so noble a creature destroyed by 
misery, without feeling the most poignant grief? He is so 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


15 


gentle, yet so wise; his mind is so cultivated ; and when he 
speaks, although his words are culled with the choicest art, 
yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence. 

He is now much recovered from his illness, and is con¬ 
tinually on the deck, apparently watching for the sledge 
that preceded his own. Yet, although unhappy, he is not 
so utterly occupied by his own misery, but that he interests 
himself deeply in the projects of others. He has frequently 
conversed with me on mine, which I have communicated 
to him without disguise. He entered attentively into all 
my arguments in favour of my eventual success, and into 
every minute detail of the measures I had taken to secure 
it. I was easily led by the sympathy which he evinced, to 
use the language of my heart; to give utterance to the 
burning ardour of my soul; and to say, with all the fer¬ 
vour that warmed me, how gladly I would sacrifice my for¬ 
tune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my 
enterprise. One man’s life or death were but a small price 
to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I 
sought; for the dominion I should acquire and transmit 
over the elemental foes of our race. As I spoke, a dark 
gloom spread over my listener’s countenance. At first I 
perceived that he tried to suppress his emotion; he placed 
his hands before his eyes ; and my voice quivered and 
failed me, as I beheld tears trickle fast from between his 
fingers,—a groan burst from his heaving breast. I paused ; 
— at length he spoke, in broken accents :— cc Unhappy man! 
Do you share my madness ? Have you drank also of the 
intoxicating draught? Hear me, — let me reveal my tale, 
and you will dash the cup from your lips !” 

Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my cu¬ 
riosity ; but the paroxysm of grief that had seized the 
stranger overcame his weakened powers, and many hours of 
repose and tranquil conversation were necessary to restore 
his composure. 

Having conquered the violence of his feelings, he appeared 
to despise himself for being the slave of passion ; and 
quelling the dark tyranny of despair, he led me again to 
converse concerning myself personally. He asked me the 
history of my earlier years. The tale was quickly told: 


J 6* FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

but it awakened various trains of reflection. I spoke of my 
desire of finding a friend — of my thirst for a more intimate 
sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my 
lot; and expressed my conviction that a man could boas? 
of little happiness, who did not enjoy this blessing. 

I agree with you,” replied the stranger ; “ we ai* 
unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, 
dearer than ourselves—such a friend ought to be—do not 
lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures. 
I once had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, 
and am entitled, therefore, to judge respecting friendship. 
You have hope, and the world before you, and have no 
cause for despair. But I — I have lost every thing, and 
cannot begin life anew.” 

As he said this, his countenance became expressive of a 
calm settled grief, that touched me to the heart. But he 
was silent, and presently retired to his cabin. 

Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more 
deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry 
sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful 
regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul 
from earth. Such a man has a double existence : he may 
suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments ; 
yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a 
celestial spirit, that has a halo around him, within whose 
circle no grief or folly ventures. 

Will you smile at the enthusiasm I express concerning 
this divine wanderer ? You would not, if you saw him. 
You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement 
from the world, and you are, therefore, somewhat fastidious ; 
but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the 
extraordinarv merits of this wonderful man. Sometimes I 

J 

have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he 
possesses, that elevates him so immeasurably above any 
other person I ever knew. I believe it to be an intuitive 
discernment; a quick but never-failing power of judg¬ 
ment; a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled 
for clearness and precision; add to this a facility of ex¬ 
pression, and a voice whose varied intonations are soul-sub¬ 
duing music. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


17 


August 19. 17—. 

Yesterday the stranger said to me, You may easily 
perceive. Captain "Walton, that I have suffered great and 
unparalleled misfortunes. I had determined, at one time, 
that the memory of these evils should die with me ; but 
you have won me to alter my determination. You seek 
for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did ; and I ardently 
hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a 
serpent to sting you, as mine has been. I do not know 
that the relation of my disasters will be useful to you; yet, 
when I reflect that you are pursuing the same course, ex¬ 
posing yourself to the same dangers which have rendered 
me what I am, I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral 
from my tale ; one that may direct you if you succeed in 
your undertaking, and console you in case of failure. Pre¬ 
pare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed mar¬ 
vellous. Were we among the tamer scenes of nature, I 
might fear to encounter your unbelief, perhaps your ridicule; 
but many things will appear possible in these wild and 
mysterious regions, which would provoke the laughter of 
those unacquainted with the ever-varied powers of nature: 
— nor can I doubt but that my tale conveys in its series 
internal evidence of the truth of the events of which it is 
composed.” 

You may easily imagine that I was much gratified by the 
offered communication ; yet I could not endure that he 
should renew his grief by a recital of his misfortunes. I 
felt the greatest eagerness to hear the promised narrative, 
partly from curiosity, and partly from a strong desire to 
ameliorate his fate, if it were in my pow r er. I expressed 
these feelings in my answer. 

“ I -1 ank you,” he replied, “ for your sympathy, but 
it is usel jss; my fate is nearly fulfilled. I wait but for 
on. eve: , and then I shall repose in peace. I understand 
year fee ing,” continued he, perceiving that 1 wished to 
him ; “ but you are mistaken, my friend, if thus 
you allow me to name you; nothing can alter my des- 
')■ v ,i<-en to my history, and you will perceive how 
kr< )> i' y it is determined.” 

c 


18 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OK, 


He then told me, that he would commence his narrative 
the next day when I should be at leisure. This promise 
drew from me the warmest thanks. I have resolved every 
night, when I am not imperatively occupied by my duties, 
to record, as nearly as possible in his own words, what he 
has related during the day. If I should be engaged, I w r ill 
at least make notes. This manuscript will doubtless afford 
you the greatest pleasure : but to me, who know him, and 
who hear it from his own lips, with what interest and 
sympathy shall I read it in some future day ! Even now, 
as I commence my task, his full-toned voice swells in my 
ears ; his lustrous eyes dwell on me with all their melan¬ 
choly sweetness ; I see his thin hand raised in animation, 
while the lineaments of his face are irradiated by the soul 
within. Strange and harrowing must be his story ; frightful 
the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course, 
and wrecked it — thus ! 


CHAPTER I. 

I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the 
most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had 
been for many years counsellors and syndics; and my father 
had filled several public situations with honour and repu¬ 
tation. He was respected by all who knew him, for his 
integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He 
passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs 
of his country ; a variety of circumstances had prevented 
his marrying early, nor was it until the decline of life that 
he became a husband and the father of a family. 

As the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his cha¬ 
racter, I cannot refrain from relating them. One of his 
most intimate friends was a merchant, who, from a flou¬ 
rishing state, fell, through numerous mischances, . nto po¬ 
verty. This man, whose name- Avas Beaufort, was < ‘ a 
proud and unbending disposition, and could not ' 
live in poverty and oblivion in the same country v ■ he 
had formerly been distinguished for his rank anc nagni- 



THE 3I0DERN PROMETHEUS. 


19 

licence. Having paid liis debts, therefore, in the most 
honourable manner, lie retreated with his daughter to the 
town of Lucerne, where he lived unknown and in wretched¬ 
ness. My father loved Beaufort with the truest friendship, 
and was deeply grieved by his retreat in these unfortunate 
circumstances. He bitterly deplored the false pride which 
led his friend to a conduct so little worthy of the affection 
that united them. He lost no time in. endeavouring to seek 
him out, with the hope of persuading him to begin the 
world again through his credit and assistance. 

Beaufort had taken effectual measures to conceal himself; 
and it was ten months before my father discovered his 
abode. Overjoyed at this discovery, he hastened to the 
house, which was situated in a mean street, near the Reuss. 
But when he entered, misery and despair alone welcomed 
him. Beaufort had saved but a very small sum of money 
from the wreck of his fortunes; but it was sufficient to 
provide him with sustenance for some months, and in the 
mean time he hoped to procure some respectable employ¬ 
ment in a merchant’s house. The interval was, consequently, 
spent in inaction ; his grief only became more deep and 
rankling, when he had leisure for reflection ; and at length 
it took so fast hold of his mind, that at the end of three 
months he lay on a bed of sickness, incapable of any ex¬ 
ertion. 

His daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness; 
but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly 
decreasing, and that there was no other prospect of support. 
But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon 
mould; and her courage rose to support her in her ad¬ 
versity. She procured plain work; she plaited straw; and 
by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarcely suf¬ 
ficient to support life. 

Several months passed in this manner. Her father grew 
worse; her time was more entirely occupied in attending 
him ; her means of subsistence decreased ; and in the tenth 
month her father died in her arms, leaving her an orphan 
and a beggar. This last blow overcame her; and she knelt 
by Beaufort’s coffin, weeping bitterly, when my father en¬ 
tered the chamber. He came like a protecting spirit to the 

c 2 


20 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 

poor girl, who committed herself to his care; and after the 
inter Rent of his friend, lie conducted her to Geneva, and 
place 1 her under the protection of a relation. Two years 
after this event Caroline became his wife. 

There was a considerable difference between the ages of 
my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only 
closer in bonds of devoted affection. There was a sense of 
justice in my father's upright mind, which rendered it 
necessary that he should approve highly to love strongly. 
Perhaps during former years he had suffered from the late- 
discovered unworthiness of one beloved, and so was dis¬ 
posed to set a greater value on tried worth. There was a 
show of gratitude and worship in his attachment to my 
mother, differing wholly from the doating fondness of age, 
for it was inspired by reverence for her virtues, and a 
desire to be the means of, in some degree, recompensing 
her for the sorrows she had endured, but which gave in¬ 
expressible grace to his behaviour to her. Every thing 
was made to yield to her wishes and her convenience. He 
strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the 
gardener, from every rougher wind, and to surround her 
with all that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in 
her soft and benevolent mind. Her health, and even the 
tranquillity of her hitherto constant spirit, had been shaken 
by what she had gone through. During the two years that 
had elapsed previous to their marriage my father had 
gradually relinquished all his public functions; and imme¬ 
diately after their union they sought the pleasant climate 
of Italy, and the change of scene and interest attendant on 
a tour through that land of wonders, as a restorative for her 
■weakened frame. 

From Italy they visited Germany and France. I, their 
eldest child, was horn at Naples, and as an infant accom¬ 
panied them in their rambles. I remained for several years 
their only child. Much as they were attached to each 
other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection 
from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me. My 
mother’s tender caresses, and my father’s smile of benevolent 
pleasure while regarding me, are my first recollections. I 
was their plaything and their idol, and something better— 


tHE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


21 


their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on 
them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose 
future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or 
misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me. 
With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards 
the being to which they had given life, added to the active 
spirit of tenderness that animated both, it may be imagined 
that while during every hour of my infant life I received a 
lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so 
guided by a silken cord, that all seemed but one train of 
enjoyment to me. 

For a long time I was their only care. My mother had 
much desired to have a daughter, but I continued their 
single offspring. When I was about five years old, while 
making an excursion beyond the frontiers of Italy, they 
passed a week on the shores of the Lake of Como. Their 
benevolent disposition often made them enter the cottages 
of the poor. This, to my mother, was more than a duty ; 
it was a necessity, a passion,—remembering what she had 
suffered, and how she had been relieved,—for her to act in 
her turn the guardian angel to the afflicted. During one 
of their walks a poor cot in the foldings of a vale attracted 
their notice, as being singularly disconsolate, while the 
number of half-clothed children gathered about it, spoke of 
penury in its worst shape. One day, when my father had 
gone by himself to Milan, my mother, accompanied by me, 
visited this abode. She found a peasant and his wife, 
hard working, bent down by care and labour, distributing 
a scanty meal to five hungry babes. Among these there 
was one which attracted my mother far above all the rest. 
She appeared of a different stock. The four others were 
dark-eyed, hardy little vagrants; this child was thin, and 
very fair, tier hair was the brightest living gold, and, 
despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown 
of distinction on her head. Her brow was clear and 
ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the mould¬ 
ing of her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness, 
that none could behold her without looking on her as of a 
distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial 
stamp in all her features. 

c 3 


22 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


The peasant woman, perceiving that my mother fixed 
eyes of wonder and admiration on this lovely girl, eagerly 
communicated her history. She was not her child, but the 
daughter of a Milanese nobleman. Her mother was a 
German, and had died on giving her birth. The infant 
had been placed with these good people to nurse: they 
were better off then. They had not been long married, 
and their eldest child was but just born. The father of 
their charge was one of those Italians nursed in the me¬ 
mory of the antique glory of Italy,—one among the scliiavi 
ognor fremeriti, who exerted himself to obtain the liberty 
of his country. He became the victim of its weakness. 
Whether he had died, or still lingered in the dungeons of 
Austria, was not known. His property was confiscated, his 
child became an orphan and a beggar. She continued with 
her foster parents, and bloomed in their rude abode, fairer 
than a garden rose among dark-leaved brambles. 

When my father returned from Milan, he found playing 
with me in the hall of our villa, a child fairer than pictured 
cherub — a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her 
looks, and whose form and motions were lighter than the 
chamois of the hills. The apparition was soon explained. 
With his permission my mother prevailed on her rustic 
guardians to yield their charge to her. They were fond of 
the sweet orphan. Her presence had seemed a blessing to 
them; but it would be unfair to her to keep her in poverty and 
want, when Providence afforded her such powerful protec¬ 
tion. They consulted their village priest, and the result 
was, that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my 
parents’ house — my more than sister — the beautiful and 
adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures. 

Every one loved Elizabeth. The passionate and almost 
reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, 
while I shared it, my pride and my delight. On the evening 
previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had 
said playfully, — “ I have a pretty present for my Victor— 
to-morrow he shall have it.” And when, on the morrow, 
she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with 
childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and 
looked upon Elizabeth as mine — mine to protect, love, and 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


23 


cherish. All praises bestowed on her, I received as made 
to a possession of my own. We called each other fami¬ 
liarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression 
could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to 
me — my more than sister, since till death she "was to be 
mine only. 


CHAPTER II. 

We were brought up together; there was not quite a year 
difference in our ages. I need not say that we were 
strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony 
was the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and con¬ 
trast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer toge¬ 
ther. Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated dis¬ 
position ; but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more 
intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the 
thirst for knowledge. She busied herself with following 
the aerial creations of the poets; and in the majestic and 
wondrous scenes which surrounded our Swiss home — the 
sublime shapes of the mountains; the changes of the sea¬ 
sons; tempest and calm; the silence of winter, and the life 
and turbulence of our Alpine summers,— she found ample 
scope for admiration and delight. While my companion 
contemplated with a serious and satisfied spirit the mag¬ 
nificent appearances of things, I delighted in investigating 
their causes. The world was to me a secret which I de¬ 
sired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the 
hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they 
were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I 
can remember. 

On the birth of a second son, my junior by seven years, 
my parents gave up entirely their wandering life, and fixed 
themselves in their native country. We possessed a house 
in Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore 
of the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league 
from the city. We resided principally in the latter, and 

c 4 




24 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


the lives of my parents were passed in considerable seclu¬ 
sion. It was my temper to avoid a crowd, and to attach 
myself fervently to a few. I was indifferent, therefore, to 
my schoolfellows in general; but I united myself in the 
bonds of the closest friendship to one among them. Henry 
Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva. He was a 
boy of singular talent and fancy. He loved enterprise, 
hardship, and even danger, for its own sake. He was 
deeply read in books of chivalry and romance. He com¬ 
posed heroic songs, and began to write many a tale of 
enchantment and knightly adventure. He tried to make 
us act plays, and to enter into masquerades, in which the 
characters were drawn from the heroes of Roncesvalles, of 
the Round Table of King Arthur, and the chivalrous train 
who shed their blood to redeem the holy sepulchre from 
the hands of the infidels. 

No human being could have passed a happier childhood 
than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit 
of kindness and indulgence. W e felt that they were not 
the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but 
the agents and creators of all the many delights which we 
enjoyed. When I mingled with other families, I distinctly 
discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and grati¬ 
tude assisted the developement of filial love. 

My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions ve¬ 
hement ; but by some law in my temperature they were 
turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager de¬ 
sire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately. 
I confess that neither the structure of languages, nor the 
code of governments, nor the politics of various states, 
possessed attractions for me. It was the secrets of heaven 
and earth that I desired to learn ; and whether it was the 
outward substance of things, or the inner spirit of nature 
and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my 
enquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or, in its high¬ 
est sense, the physical secrets of the world. 

Meanwhile Clerval occupied himself, so to speak, with 
the moral relations of things. The busy stage of life, the 
virtues of heroes, and the actions of men, were his theme; 
and his hope and his dream was to become one among these 


THE MODERN PROM ETHEL'S 


25 


whose names are recorded in story, as the gallant and ad¬ 
venturous benefactors of our species. The saintly soul of 
Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peace¬ 
ful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft 
voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there 
to bless and animate us. She was the living spirit of love 
to soften and attract: I might have become sullen in my 
study, rough through the ardour of my nature, but that she 
was there to subdue me to a semblance of her own gentle¬ 
ness. And Clerval—could aught ill entrench on the noble 
spirit of Clerval?—yet he might not have been so per¬ 
fectly humane, so thoughtful in his generosity—so full of 
kindness and tenderness amidst his passion for adventurous 
exploit, had she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of 
beneficence, and made the doing good the end and aim of 
his soaring ambition. 

I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections 
of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind, and 
changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into 
gloomy and narrow reflections upon self. Besides, in 
drawing the picture of my early days, I also record those 
events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of 
misery : for when I would account to myself for the birth 
of that passion, which afterwards ruled my destiny, I find 
it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost 
forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it be¬ 
came the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all 
my hopes and joys. 

Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my 
fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state those 
facts which led to my predilection for that science. When 
I was thirteen years of age, we all went on a party of 
pleasure to the baths near Thonon : the inclemency of the 
weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn. 
In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of 
Cornelius Agrippa. I opened it with apathy; the theory 
which he attempts to demonstrate, and the wonderful facts 
which he relates, soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm. 
A new light seemed to dawn upon my mind; and, bound¬ 
ing with joy, I communicated my discovery to my father. 


26 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


My father looked carelessly at the titlepage of my book, 
and said, “ Ah ! Cornelius Agrippa ! My dear Victor, do 
not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash.” 

If, instead of this remark, my father had taken the 
pains to explain to me, that the principles of Agrippa had 
heen entirely exploded, and that a modern system of science 
had been introduced, which possessed much greater powers 
than the ancient, because the powers of the latter were chi¬ 
merical, w’hile those of the former were real and practical; 
under such circumstances, I should certainly have thrown 
Agrippa aside, and have contented my imagination, warmed 
as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former 
studies. It is even possible, that the train of my ideas 
would never have received the fatal impulse that led to 
my ruin. But the cursory glance my father had taken of 
my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted 
with its contents; and I continued to read with the greatest 
avidity. 

When I returned home, my first care was to procure the 
whole -works of this author, and afterwards of Paracelsus 
and Albertus Magnus. I read and studied the w r ild fancies 
of these writers with delight; they appeared to me trea¬ 
sures known to few beside myself. I have described my¬ 
self as always having been embued with a fervent longing 
to penetrate the secrets of nature. In spite of the intense 
labour and wonderful discoveries of modern philosophers, 
I always came from my studies discontented and unsatis¬ 
fied. Sir Isaac Newton is said to have avowed that he felt 
like a child picking up shells beside the great and unex¬ 
plored ocean of truth. Those of his successors in each 
branch of natural philosophy with whom I was acquainted, 
appeared even to my boy’s apprehensions, as tyros engaged 
in the same pursuit. 

The untaught peasant beheld the elements around him, 
and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most 
learned philosopher knew little more. He had partially 
unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments 
were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, 
anatomise, and give names; but, not to speak of a final 
cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were 



TI1E MODERN PROMETHEUS. 27 

utterly unknown to him. I had gazed upon the fortifica¬ 
tions and impediments that seemed to keep human beings 
from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and igno¬ 
rantly I had repined. 

But here were books, and here were men who had pene¬ 
trated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that 
they averred, and I became their disciple. It may appear 
strange that such should arise in the eighteenth century; 
but while I followed the routine of education in the schools 
of Geneva, I was, to a great degree, self taught with regard 
to my favourite studies. My father was not scientific, and 
I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a 
student’s thirst for knowledge. Under the guidance of my 
new preceptors, I entered with the greatest diligence into 
the search of the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life; 
but the latter soon obtained my undivided attention. 
Wealth was an inferior object; but what glory -would at¬ 
tend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the 
human frame, and render man invulnerable to any but a 
violent death ! 

Nor were these my only visions. The raising of ghosts 
or devils w r as a promise liberally accorded by my favourite 
authors, the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought; and 
if my incantations were always unsuccessful, I attributed the 
failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake, than to 
a want of skill or fidelity in my instructors. And thus for 
a time I was occupied by exploded systems, mingling, like 
an unadept, a thousand contradictory theories, and floun¬ 
dering desperately in a very slough of multifarious know¬ 
ledge, guided by an ardent imagination and childish reason¬ 
ing, till an accident again changed the current of my ideas. 

When I was about fifteen years old we had retired to our 
house near Belrive, when we -witnessed a most violent and 
terrible thunder-storm. It advanced from behind the 
mountains of Jura; and the thunder burst at once with 
frightful loudness from various quarters of the heavens. I 
remained, while the storm lasted, watching its progress 
with curiosity and delight. As I stood at the door, on a 
sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and 
beautiful oak, which stood about twenty yards from our 


28 FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 

house ; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak 
had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted 
stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the 
tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered 
by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribands of wood. 
I never beheld any thing so utterly destroyed. 

Before this I was not unacquainted with the more ob¬ 
vious laws of electricity. On this occasion a man of great 
research in natural philosophy was with us, and, excited by 
this catastrophe, he entered on the explanation of a theory 
which he had formed on the subject of electricity and gal¬ 
vanism, which was at once new and astonishing to me. All 
that he said threw greatly into the shade Cornelius Agrippa, 
Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, the lords of my imagin¬ 
ation ; but by some fatality the overthrow of these men 
disinclined me to pursue my accustomed studies. It 
seemed to me as if nothing would or could ever be known. 
All that had so long engaged my attention suddenly grew 
despicable. By one of those caprices of the mind, which 
we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once 
gave up my former occupations; set down natural history 
and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation; 
and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science, 
which could never even step within the threshold of real 
knowledge. In this mood of mind I betook myself to the 
mathematics, and the branches of study appertaining to 
that science, as being built upon secure foundations, and so 
worthy of my consideration. 

Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such 
slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin. When 
I look back, it seems to me as if this almost miraculous 
change of inclination and will was the immediate sug¬ 
gestion of the guardian angel of my life — the last effort 
made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm that 
was even then hanging in the stars, and ready to envelope 
me. Her victory was announced by an unusual tranquil¬ 
lity and gladness of soul, which followed the relinquishing 
of my ancient and latterly tormenting studies. It was thus 
that I was to be taught to associate evil with their prose¬ 
cution, happiness with their disregard. 


THE 3I0DERN PR0METI1L > >» 


29 

It was a strong effort of the spirit of good ; but it was 
ineffectual. Destiny was too potent, and her .immutable 
laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction. 


CHAPTER III. 

When I had attained the age of seventeen, my parents re-, 
solved that I should become a student at the university of 
Ingoistadt. I had hitherto attended the schools of Ge¬ 
neva ; but my father thought it necessary, for the comple¬ 
tion of my education, that I should be made acquainted 
with other customs than those of my native country. My 
departure was therefore fixed at an early date; but, before 
the day resolved upon ^oukl arrive, the first misfortune of 
my life occurred—an omen, as it were, of my future 
misery. 

Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever; her illness was 
severe, and she was in the greatest danger. During her 
illness, many arguments had been urged to persuade my 
mother to refrain from attending upon her. She had, at 
first, yielded to our entreaties; but when she heard that the 
life of her favourite was menaced, she could no longer con¬ 
trol her anxiety. She attended her sick bed,—her watch¬ 
ful attentions triumphed over the malignity of the dis¬ 
temper,—Elizabeth was saved, but the consequences of 
this imprudence were fatal to her preserver. On the third 
day my mother sickened; her fever was accompanied 
by the most alarming symptoms, and the looks of her 
medical attendants prognosticated the worst event. On 
her death-bed the fortitude and benignity of this best of 
women did not desert her. She joined the hands of Eliza¬ 
beth and myself: — “ My children,” she said, “ my firmest 
hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of 
your union. This expectation will now be the consolation 
of your father. Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my 
place to my younger children. Alas ! I regret that I am 
taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been,, 




30 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


is it not hard to quit you all ? But these are not thoughts 
befitting me; I will endeavour to resign myself cheerfully 
to death, and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another 
w orld.” 

She died calmly ; and her countenance expressed affec¬ 
tion even in death. I need not describe the feelings of 
those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable 
evil; the void that presents itself to the soul; and the 
despair that is exhibited on the countenance. It is so long 
before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw 
every day, and whose very existence appeared a part of our 
own, can have departed for ever—that the brightness of a 
beloved eye can have been extinguished, and the sound of 
a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, 
never more to be heard. These are the reflections of the 
first days ; but when the lapse of time proves the reality of 
the evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences. Yet 
from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear 
connection ? and why should I describe a sorrow which all 
have felt, and must feel? The time at length arrives, 
when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity ; and 
the smile that plays upon the lips, although it may be 
deemed a sacrilege, is not banished. My mother was dead, 
but we had still duties which we ought to perform ; we 
must continue our course with the rest, and learn to think 
ourselves fortunate, whilst one remains whom the spoiler 
has not seized. 

My departure for Ingolstadt, which had been deferred 
by these events, was now again determined upon. I ob¬ 
tained from my father a respite of some weeks. It appeared 
to me sacrilege so soon to leave the repose, akin to death, 
of the house of mourning, and to rush into the thick of 
life. I was new to sorrow, but it did not the less alarm 
me. I "was unwilling to quit the sight of those that 
remained to me ; and, above all, I desired to see my sweet 
Elizabeth in some degree consoled. 

She indeed veiled her grief, and strove to act the com¬ 
forter to us all. She looked steadily on life, and assumed 
its duties with courage and zeal. She devoted herself to 
those whom she had been taught to call her uncle and 






THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


31 


cousins. Never was she so enchanting as at this time, 
when she recalled the sunshine of her smiles and spent 
them upon us. She forgot even her own regret in her 
endeavours to make us forget. 

The day of my departure at length arrived. Clerval 
spent the last evening with us. He had endeavoured to 
persuade his father to permit him to accompany me, and to 
become my fellow student; but in vain. His father was a 
narrow-minded trader, and saw idleness and ruin in the 
aspirations and ambition of his son. Henry deeply felt the 
misfortune of being debarred from a liberal education. He 
said little; but when he spoke, I read in his kindling eye 
and in his animated glance a restrained but firm resolve, 
not to be chained to the miserable details of commerce. 

We sat late. We could not tear ourselves away from 
each other, nor persuade ourselves to say the word “ Fare¬ 
well!” It was said; and we retired under the pretence 
of seeking repcse, each fancying that the other was de¬ 
ceived : but when at morning’s dawn I descended to the 
carriage which was to convey me away, they were all there 
— my father again to bless me, Clerval to press my hand 
once more, my Elizabeth to renew her entreaties that I 
would write often, and to bestow the last feminine attentions 
on her playmate and friend. 

I threw myself into the chaise that was to convey me 
away, and indulged in the most melancholy reflections. I, 
who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, 
continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual plea¬ 
sure, I was now alone. In the university, whither I was 
going, I must form my own friends, and be my own pro¬ 
tector. My life had hitherto been remarkably secluded 
and domestic; and this had given me invincible repugnance 
to new countenances. I loved my brothers, Elizabeth, and 
Clerval; these were “ old familiar faces;” but I believed 
myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers. Such 
were my reflections as I commenced my journey ; but as 
I proceeded, my spirits and hopes rose. I ardently desired 
the acquisition of knowledge. I had often, when at home, 
thought it hard to remain during my youth cooped up in 
one place, and had longed to enter the world, and take my 


32 FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 

station among other human beings. Now my desires were 
complied with, and it would, indeed, have been folly to 
repent. 

I had sufficient leisure for these and many other reflec¬ 
tions during my journey to Ingolstadt, which was long 
and fatiguing. At length the high white steeple of the 
town met my eyes. I alighted, and was conducted to my 
solitary apartment, to spend the evening as I pleased. 

The next morning I delivered my letters of introduction, 
and paid a visit to some of the principal professors. Chance 
— or rather the evil influence, the Angel of Destruction, 
which asserted omnipotent sway over me from the moment 
I turned my reluctant steps from my father's door—led 
me first to Mr. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. 
He was an uncouth man, but deeply embued in the secrets 
of his science. He asked me several questions concerning 
my progress in the different branches of science appertain¬ 
ing to natural philosophy. I replied carelessly; and, partly 
in contempt, mentioned the names of my alchymists as the 
principal authors I had studied. The professor stared : 
<c Have you,” he said, “ really spent your time in studying 
such nonsense?” 

I replied in the affirmative. “ Every minute,” continued 
M. Krempe with warmth, “ every instant that you have 
wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost. You 
have burdened your memory with exploded systems and 
useless names. Good God ! in what desert land have you 
lived, where no one was kind enough to inform you that 
these fancies, which you have so greedily imbibed, are a 
thousand years old, and as musty as they are ancient ? 1 

little expected, in this enlightened and scientific age, to find 
a disciple of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus. My dear 
sir, you must begin your studies entirely anew.” 

So saying, he stept aside, and wrote down a list of several 
books treating of natural philosophy, which he desired me 
to procure ; and dismissed me, after mentioning that in the 
beginning of the following week he intended to commence 
a course of lectures upon natural philosophy in its general 
relations, and that M. Waldman, a fellow-professor, would 
lecture upon chemistry the alternate days that he omitted. 









THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


S3 


I returned home, not disappointed, for I have said that 
I had long considered those authors useless whom the pro¬ 
fessor reprobated; but I returned, not at all the more in¬ 
clined to recur to these studies in any shape. M. Krempe 
was a little squat man, with a gruff voice and a repulsive 
countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me 
in favour of his pursuits. In rather a too philosophical 
and connected a strain, perhaps, I have given an account 
of the conclusions I had come to concerning them in my 
early years. As a child, I had not been content with the 
results promised by the modern professors of natural science. 
With a confusion of ideas only to be accounted for by my 
extreme youth, and my want of a guide on such matters, 
I had retrod the steps of knowledge along the paths of time, 
and exchanged the discoveries of recent enquirers for the 
dreams of forgotten alchymists. Besides, I had a contempt* 
for the uses of modern natural philosophy. It was very 
different, when the masters of the science sought immor¬ 
tality and power ; such views, although futile, were grand: 
but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the 
enquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those 
visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. 

I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur 
for realities of little worth. 

Such were my reflections during the first two or three 
days of my residence at Ingolstadt, which were chiefly 
spent in becoming acquainted with the localities, and the 
principal residents in my new abode. But as the ensuing 
week commenced, I thought of the information which 
M. Krempe had given me concerning the lectures. And 
although I could not consent to go and hear that little 
conceited fellow deliver sentences out of a pulpit, I recol¬ 
lected what he had said of M. Waldman, whom I had never 
seen, as he had hitherto been out of town. 

Partly from curiosity, and partly from idleness, I went 
into the lecturing room, which M. Waldman entered shortly 
after. This professor was very unlike his colleague. He 
appeared about fifty years of age, but with an aspect ex¬ 
pressive of the greatest benevolence; a few grey hairs co¬ 
vered his temples, but those at the back of his head were 

L» 


34 > 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


nearly black. His person was short, but remarkably erect; 
and his voice the sweetest I hacl ever heard. He began his 
lecture by a recapitulation of the history of chemistry, and 
the various improvements made by different men of learn¬ 
ing, pronouncing with fervour the names of the most dis¬ 
tinguished discoverers. He then took a cursory view of 
the present state of the science, and explained many of fts 
elementary terms. After having made a few preparatory 
experiments, he concluded with a panegyric upon modern 
chemistry, the terms of which I shall never forget: — 

“ The ancient teachers of this science,” said he, “ pro¬ 
mised impossibilities, and performed nothing. The mo¬ 
dern masters promise very little; they know that metals 
cannot be transmuted, and that the elixir of life is a 
chimera. But these philosophers, whose hands seem only 
made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the mi¬ 
croscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles. They 
penetrate into the recesses of nature, and show how she 
works in her hiding places. They ascend into the heavens: 
they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the 
nature of the air we breathe. They have acquired new 
and almost unlimited powers; they can command the 
thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock 
the invisible world with its own shadows.” 

Such were the professor’s words—rather let me say such 
the words of fate, enounced to destroy me. As he went on, I 
felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy ; 
one by one the various keys were touched which formed 
the mechanism of my being: chord after chord was 
sounded, and soon my mind was filled with one thought, 
one conception, one purpose. So much has been done, 
exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein, — more, far more, will I 
achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will 
pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to 
the world the deepest mysteries of creation. 

I closed not my eyes that night. My internal being 
was in a state of insurrection and turmoil; I felt that order 
would thence arise, but I had no power to produce it. By 
degrees, after the morning’s dawn, sleep came. I awoke, 
and my yesternight’s thoughts were as a dream. There only 


THE IUOHEIIiN PROMETHEUS. 


35 


remained a resolution to return to my ancient studies, and 
to devote myself to a science for which I believed myself 
to possess a natural talent. On the same day, I paid M. 
Waldman a visit. His manners in private were even more 
mild and attractive than in public; for there was a certain 
dignity in his mien during his lecture, which in his own 
house was replaced by the greatest affability and kindness. 
I gave him pretty nearly the same account of my former 
pursuits as I had given to his fellow-professor. He heard 
with attention the little narration concerning my studies, 
and smiled at the names of Cornelius Agrippa and Para¬ 
celsus, but without the contempt that M. Krempe had ex¬ 
hibited. He said, that “ these were men to whose inde¬ 
fatigable zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most 
of the foundations of their knowledge. They had left to 
us, as an easier task, to give new names, and arrange in 
connected classifications, the facts which they in a great 
degree had been the instruments of bringing to light. The 
labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, 
scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to. the solid advan¬ 
tage of mankind.” I listened to his statement, which was 
delivered without any presumption or affectation; and 
then added, that his lecture had removed my prejudices 
against modern chemists ; I expressed myself in measured 
terms, with the modesty and deference due from a youth 
to his instructor, without letting escape (inexperience in 
life would have made me ashamed) any of the enthusiasm 
which stimulated my intended labours. I requested his 
advice concerning the books I ought to procure. 

“ I am happy,” said M. Waldman, “ to have gained a 
disciple ; and if your application equals your ability, I have 
no doubt of your success. Chemistry is that branch of 
natural philosophy in which the greatest improvements have 
been and may be made: it is on that account that I have 
made it my peculiar study; but at the same time I have 
not neglected the other branches of science. A man would 
make but a very sorry chemist if he attended to that de¬ 
partment of human knowledge alone. If your wish is to 
become really a man of science, and not merely a petty ex- 

d 2 


36 


FRANKE.VSrEI.r : OR, 


perimentalist, 1 should advise you to apply to every branch 
of natural philosophy, including mathematics/' 

He then took me into his laboratory, and explained to 
me the uses of his various machines; instructing me as to 
what I ought to procure, and promising me the use of his 
own when I should have advanced far enough in the science 
dot to derange their mechanism. He also gave me the 
list of books which I had requested; and I took my 
leave. 

Thus, ended a day memorable to me: it decided my 
future destiny. 


CHAPTER IV. 

From this day natural philosophy, and particularly che¬ 
mistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, 
became nearly my sole occupation. I read with ardour 
those works, so full of genius and discrimination, which 
modern enquirers have written on these subjects. I at¬ 
tended the lectures, and cultivated the acquaintance, of 
the men of science of the university ; and I found even in 
M. Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real inform¬ 
ation, combined, it is true, with a repulsive physiognomy 
and manners, but not on that account the less valuable. In 
M. Waldman l found a true friend. His gentleness w r as 
never tinged by dogmatism ; and his instructions were 
given with an air of frankness and good nature, that 
banished every idea of pedantry. In a thousand ways he 
smoothed for me the path of knowledge, and made the most 
abstruse enquiries clear and facile to my apprehension. 
My application was at first fluctuating and uncertain ; it 
gained strength as I proceeded, and soon became so ardent 
and eager, that the stars often disappeared in the light of 
morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory. 

As I applied so closely, it may be easily conceived that 
my progress was rapid. My ardour was indeed the asto¬ 
nishment of the students, and my proficiency that of the 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


37 


masters. Professor Krempe often asked me, with a sly 
smile, how Cornelius Agrippa went on? whilst M. Wald- 
man expressed the most heartfelt exultation in my progress. 
Two years passed in this manner, during w r hich I paid no 
visit to Geneva, but w r as engaged, heart and soul, in the 
pursuit of some discoveries, which I hoped to make. None 
but those who have experienced them can conceive of the 
enticements of science. In other studies you go as far as 
others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to 
know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food 
for discovery and wonder. A mind of moderate capacity, 
which closely pursues one study, must infallibly arrive at 
great proficiency in that study; and I, who continually 
sought the attainment of one object of pursuit, and was 
solely wrapt up in this, improved so rapidly, that, at the 
end of two years, I made some discoveries in the improve¬ 
ment of some chemical instruments, which procured me 
great esteem and admiration at the university. When I 
had arrived at this point, and had become as well acquainted 
with the theory and practice of natural philosophy as de¬ 
pended on the lessons of any of the professors at Ingolstadt, 
my residence there being no longer conducive to my im¬ 
provements, I thought of returning to my friends and my 
native town, when an incident happened that protracted 
my stay. 

One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted 
my attention was the structure of the human frame, and, 
indeed, any animal endued with life. Whence, I often 
asked myself, did the principle of life proceed ? It was a 
bold question, and one which has ever been considered as a 
mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink 
of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did 
not restrain our enquiries. I revolved these circumstances 
in my mind, and determined thenceforth to apply myself 
more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy 
which relate to physiology. Unless I had been animated 
by an almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application 
to this study would have been irksome, and almost in¬ 
tolerable. To examine the causes of life, we must first 
have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the 

d 3 


38 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


science of anatomy: but this was not sufficient; I must 
also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human 
body. In my education my father had taken the greatest 
precautions that my mind should he impressed with no 
supernatural horrors. I do not ever remember to have 
trembled at a tale of superstition, or to have feared the 
apparition of a spirit. Darkness had no effect upon my 
fancy; and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle 
of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of 
beauty and strength, had become food for the worm. Now 
I was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay, 
and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel- 
houses. My attention was fixed upon every object the 
most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings. 
I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted; 
I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming 
cheek of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders 
of the eye and brain. I paused, examining and analysing 
all the minutiae of causation, as exemplified in the change 
from life to death, and death to life, until from the midst 
of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me — a light 
so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I be¬ 
came dizzy with the immensity of the prospect ■which it 
illustrated, I was surprised, that among so many men of 
genius who had directed their enquiries towards the same 
science, that I alone should be reserved to discover so aston¬ 
ishing a secret. 

Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman. 
The sun does not more certainly shine in the heavens, than 
that which I now affirm is true. Some miracle might have 
produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct 
and probable. After days and nights of incredible labour 
and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of gener¬ 
ation and life ; nay, more, I became myself capable of be¬ 
stowing animation upon lifeless matter. 

The astonishment which I had at first experienced on 
this discovery soon gave place to delight and rapture. 
After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at 
once at the summit of my desires, was the most gratifying 
consummation of my toils. But this discovery was so 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. S9 

great and overwhelming, that all the steps by which I .had 
been progressively led to it were obliterated, and I beheld 
only the result. What had been the study and desire of 
the wisest men since the creation of the world was now 
within my grasp. Not that, like a magic scene, it all 
opened upon me at once : the information I had obtained 
■was of a nature rather to direct my endeavours so soon as 
I should point them towards the object of my search, than 
to exhibit that object already accomplished. I was like the 
Arabian who had been buried with the dead, and found a 
passage to life, aided only by one glimmering, and seem¬ 
ingly ineffectual, light. 

I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which 
your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to he in¬ 
formed of the secret with which I am acquainted; that 
cannot he: listen patiently until the end of my story, and 
you will easily perceive why I am reserved upon that sub¬ 
ject. I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I 
then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn 
from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, 
how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how 
much happier that man is who believes his native town to 
b<^ the world, than he who aspires to become greater than 
his nature will allow. 

When I found so astonishing a power placed within my 
hands, I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in 
which I should employ it. Although I possessed the ca¬ 
pacity of bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for 
the reception of it, with all its intricacies of fibres, muscles, 
and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty 
and labour. I doubted at first whether I should attempt 
the creation of a being like myself, or one of simpler organ¬ 
ization ; but my imagination was too much exalted by my 
first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life 
to an animal as complex and wonderful as man. The 
materials at present within my command hardly appeared 
adequate to so arduous an undertaking; but I doubted not 
that I should ultimately succeed. I prepared myself for a 
multitude of reverses ; my operations might be incessantly 
baffled, and at last my work be imperfect: yet, when I 

d 4 


40 


FRANKENSTEIN’ ; OR, 


considered the improvement which every day takes place in 
science and mechanics, I was encouraged to hope my pre¬ 
sent attempts would at least lay the foundations of future 
success. Nor could I consider the magnitude and com¬ 
plexity of my plan as any argument of its impracticability. 
It was with these feelings that I began the creation of a 
human being. As the minuteness of the parts formed a 
great hinderance to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my 
first intention, to make the being of a gigantic stature; that 
is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionably 
large. After having formed this determination, and having 
spent some months in successfully collecting and arranging 
my materials, I began. 

No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore 
me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of 
success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, 
which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of 
light into our dark world. A new species would bless me 
as its creator and source; many happy and excellent na¬ 
tures would owe their being to me. No father could claim 
the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve 
theirs. ‘Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I 
could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in 
process of time (although I now found it impossible) re¬ 
new life where death had apparently devoted the body to 
corruption. 

These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued 
my undertaking with unremitting ardour. My cheek had 
grown pale with study, and my person had become ema¬ 
ciated with confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of 
certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the 
next day or the next hour might realise. One secret which 
I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated 
myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, 
while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued 
nature to her hiding-places. Who shall conceive the horrors 
of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps 
of the grave, or tortured the living animal to animate the 
lifeless clay ? My limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim 
with the remembrance; but then a resistless, and almost 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


41 


frantic, impulse, urged me forward; I seemed to have lost 
all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit. It was indeed 
but a passing trance, that only made me feel with renewed 
acuteness so soon as, the unnatural stimulus ceasing to 
operate, I had returned to my old habits. I collected bones 
from charnel-houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers, 
the tremendous secrets of the human frame. In a solitary 
chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house, and separ¬ 
ated from all the other apartments by a gallery and stair¬ 
case, I kept my workshop of filthy creation: my eye-balls 
w r ere starting from their sockets in attending to the details 
of my employment. The dissecting room and the slaughter¬ 
house furnished many of my materials ; and often did my 
human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, 
whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually 
increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion. 

The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, 
heart and soul, in one pursuit. It was a most beautiful 
season; never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest, 
or the vines yield a more luxuriant vintage: but my eyes 
were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same 
feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me 
caused me also to forget those friends who were so many 
miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time. 
I knew my silence disquieted them; and I well remembered 
the words of my father: “ I know that w r hile you are pleased 
with yourself, you will think of us with affection, and we 
shall hear regularly from you. You must pardon me if I 
regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof 
that your other duties are equally neglected/ 5 

I knew well therefore what would be my father’s feel¬ 
ings ; but I could not tear my thoughts from my employ¬ 
ment, loathsome in itself, but which had taken an irre¬ 
sistible hold of my imagination. I wished, as it were, to 
procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until 
the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my 
nature, should be completed. 

I then thought that my father would be unjust if he 
ascribed my neglect to vice, or faultiness on my part; but I 
am now convinced that he was justified in conceiving that 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


42 

I should not be altogether free from blame. A human 
being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and 
peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory 
desire to disturb his tranquillity. I do not think that the 
pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the 
study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken 
your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple 
pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that 
study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the 
human mind. If this rule were always observed; if no 
man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere w r ith the 
tranquillity of his domestic affections, Greece had not been 
enslaved ; Caesar would have spared his country; America 
would have been discovered more gradually; and the em- 
res of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed. 

But I forget that I am moralising in the most interesting 
rt of my tale; and your looks remind me to proceed. 

My father made no reproach in his letters, and only took 
notice of my silence by enquiring into my occupations 
more particularly than before. Winter, spring, and summer 
passed away during my labours; but I did not watch tile 
blossom or the expanding leaves — sights which before 
always yielded me supreme delight — so deeply was I en¬ 
grossed in my occupation. The leaves of that year had 
withered before my work drew near to a close; and now 
every day showed me more plainly how well I had suc¬ 
ceeded. But my enthusiasm was checked by my anxiety, 
and I appeared rather like one doomed by slavery to toil in 
the mines, or any other unwholesome trade, than an artist 
occupied by his favourite employment. Every night I was 
oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most 
painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned 
my fellow-creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. 
Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I 
had become ; the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: 
my labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and 
amusement would then drive away incipient disease; and I 
promised myself both of these wdien my creation should be 
complete. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


4 3 


CHAPTER V. 

It was on a dreary night of November, that T beheld the 
accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost 
amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life 
around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the 
lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in 
the morning ; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, 
and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer 
of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye 
of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive 
motion agitated its limbs. 

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or 
how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains 
and care I had endeavoured to form ? His limbs were in 
proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. 
Beautiful! —Great God ! His yellow skin scarcely covered 
the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of 
a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly white¬ 
ness ; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid 
contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the 
same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were 
set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. 

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as 
the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for 
nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into 
an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest 
and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far ex¬ 
ceeded moderation ; but now that I had finished, the beauty 
of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust 
filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being 
I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a 
long time traversing my bedchamber, unable to compose my 
mind to sleep. At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult 
I had before endured; and I threw myself on the bed in 
my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forget¬ 
fulness. But it was in vain: I slept, indeed, but I was 
listurbed by the wildest dreams, I thought I saw Eliza¬ 
beth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of 


44 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; hut 
as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid 
with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, 
and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in 
my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the 
grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started 
from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my fore¬ 
head, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: 
when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it 
forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the 
wretch — the miserable monster whom I had created. He 
held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they 
may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and 
he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled 
his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear ; one 
hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, hut I 
escaped, and rushed down stairs. I took refuge in the court¬ 
yard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I 
remained during the rest of the night, walking up and 
down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catch¬ 
ing and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the 
approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so 
miserably given life. 

Oh ! no mortal could support the horror of that counte¬ 
nance. A mummy again endued with animation could not 
be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while 
unfinished; he was ugly then ; hut when those muscles and 
joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing 
such as even Dante could not have conceived, 

I passed the night wretchedly. Sometimes my pulse 
heat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of 
every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground 
through languor and extreme weakness. Mingled with this 
horror, I felt the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that 
had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space 
were now become a hell to me; and the change was so 
rapid, the overthrow so complete ! 

Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned, and dis¬ 
covered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of Ln- 
golstadt, its white steeple and clock, which indicated the 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 45 

sixth hour. The porter opened the gates of the court, which 
had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the 
streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to 
avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street 
would present to my view. I did not dare return to the 
apartment which 1 inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, 
although drenched by the rain which poured from a black 
and comfortless sky. 

I continued walking in this manner for some time, en¬ 
deavouring, by bodily exercise, to ease the load that weighed 
upon my mind. I traversed the streets, without any clear 
conception of where 1 was, or what I was doing. My 
heart palpitated in the sickness of fear; and I hurried on 
with irregular steps, not daring to look about me: — 

“ Like one who, on a lonely road. 

Doth walk in fear and dread. 

And, having once turned round, walks on. 

And turns no more his head ; 

Because he knows a frightful fiend 
Doth close behind him tread.”* 

Continuing thus, I came at length opposite to the inn at 
which the various diligences and carriages usually stopped. 
Herelpaused^ I knew not why; but I remained some minutes 
with my eyes fixed on a coach that was coming towards me 
from the other end of the street. As it drew nearer, I ob¬ 
served that it was the Swiss diligence : it stopped just where 
I was standing; and, on the door being opened, I perceived 
Henry Clerval, who, on seeing me, instantly sprung out. 
“ My dear Frankenstein/’ exclaimed be, “ how glad I am 
to see you ! how fortunate that you should be here at the 
very moment of my alighting !” 

Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Clerval; his 
presence brought back to my thoughts my father, Eliza¬ 
beth, and all those scenes of home so dear to my recollec¬ 
tion. I grasped his hand, and in a moment forgot my 
horror and misfortune; I felt suddenly, and for the first 
time during many months, calm and serene joy. I wel¬ 
comed my friend, therefore, in the most cordial manner, 
and we walked towards my college. Clerval continued 
talking for some time about our mutual friends, and his own 


* Coleridge’s “ Ancient Mariner.” 


46 


Frankenstein; or, 

good fortune in being permitted to come to Ingolstadt . ee You 
may easily believe/* said he, <c liow great was the diffi¬ 
culty to persuade my father that all necessary knowledge 
was not comprised in the noble art of book-keeping; and", 
indeed, I believe I left him incredulous to the last, for his 
j constant answer to my unwearied entreaties was the same 
as that of the Dutch schoolmaster in the Vicar of Wake¬ 
field : — c 1 have ten thousand florins a year without 
Greek, I eat heartily without Greek/ But his affection 
for me at length overcame his dislike of learning, and he 
has permitted me to undertake a voyage of discovery to the 
land of knowledge/* 

“ It gives me the greatest delight to see you ; but tell 
me how you left my father, brothers, and Elizabeth/’ 

“ Very well, and very happy, only a little uneasy that 
they hear from you so seldom. By the by, I mean to 
lecture you a little upon their account myself. — But, my 
dear Frankenstein,” continued he, stopping short, and gazing 
full in my face, “ I did not before remark how very ill you 
appear; so thin and pale ; you look as if you had been 
watching for several nights.” 

“ You have guessed right ; I have lately been so deeply 
engaged in one occupation, that I have not allowed myself 
sufficient rest, as you see : but I hope, I sincerely hope, 
that all these employments are now at an end, and that I 
am at length free.” 

I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, 
and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding 
night. I walked with a quick pace, and we soon arrived 
at my college. I then reflected, and the thought made me 
shiver, that the creature whom I had left in my apartment 
might still be there, alive, and walking about. I dreaded 
to behold this monster ; but I feared still more that Henrj 
should see him. Entreating him, therefore, to remain a 
few minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted up towards 
my own room. My hand was already on the lock of the 
door before I recollected myself. I then paused; and a 
cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly 
open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a 
spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side; but 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


47 


nothing appeared. I stepped fearfully in: the apartment 
was empty ; and my bed-room was also freed from its 
hideous guest. I could hardly believe that so great a good 
fortune could have befallen me; but when I became assured 
that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for 
joy, and ran down to Clerval. 

We ascended into my room, and the servant presently 
brought breakfast; but I was unable to contain myself. It 
was not joy only that possessed me; I felt my flesh tingle 
with excess of sensitiveness, and my pulse beat rapidly. I 
was unable to remain for a single instant in the same place; 
I jumped over the chairs, clapped my hands, and laughed 
aloud. Clerval at first attributed my unusual spirits to joy 
on his arrival; but when he observed me more attentively, 
he saw a wildness in my eyes for which he could not ac¬ 
count; and my loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter, fright¬ 
ened and astonished him. 

“ My dear Victor,” cried he, cc what, for God’s sake, is 
the matter ? Do not laugh in that manner. How ill you 
are ! What is the cause of all this ? ” 

“ Do not ask me,” cried I, putting my hands before my 
eyes, for I thought I saw the dreaded spectre glide into the 
room ; “ he can tell. — Oh, save me ! save me !” I ima¬ 
gined that the monster seized me; I struggled furiously, 
and fell down in a fit. 

Poor Clerval! what must have been his feelings ? A 
meeting, which be anticipated with such joy, so strangely 
turned to bitterness. But I was not the witness of his 
grief; for I was lifeless, and did not recover my senses for 
a long, long time. 

This was the commencement of a nervous fever, which 
confined me for several months. During all that time 
Henry was my only nurse. I afterwards learned that, 
knowing my father’s advanced age, and unfitness for so 
long a journey, and how wretched my sickness would make 
Elizabeth, he spared them this grief by concealing the ex¬ 
tent of my disorder. He knew that I could not have a 
more kind and attentive nurse than himself; and, firm in 
the hope he’ felt of my recovery, he did not doubt tliat, 
instead of doing harm, he performed the kindest action that 
he could towards them. 


48 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR , 


But I was in reality very ill; and surely nothing but the 
unbounded and unremitting attentions of my friend could 
have restored me to life. The form of the monster on 
whom I had bestowed existence was for ever before my eyes, 
and I raved incessantly concerning him. Doubtless my 
words surprised Henry: he at first believed them to be the 
wanderings of my disturbed imagination ; but the pertina¬ 
city with which I continually recurred to the same subject, 
persuaded him that my disorder indeed owed its origin to 
some uncommon and terrible event. 

By very slow degrees, and with frequent relapses, that 
alarmed and grieved my friend, I recovered.' I remember 
the first time I became capable of observing outward objects 
with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves 
had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting 
forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a 
divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my 
convalescence. I felt also sentiments of joy and affection 
revive in my bosom ; my gloom disappeared, and in a short 
time I became as cheerful as before I was attacked by the 
fatal passion. 

“ Dearest Clerval,” exclaimed I, “ how kind, how very 
good you are to me. This whole winter, instead of being- 
spent in study, as you promised yourself, has been con¬ 
sumed in my sick room. Plow shall I ever repay you ? I 
feel the greatest remorse for the disappointment of which I 
have been the occasion ; but you will forgive me.” 

u You will repay me entirely, if you do not discompose 
yourself, but get well as fast as you can ; and since you 
appear in such good spirits, I may speak to you on one 
subject, may I not?” 

I trembled. One subject! what could it be ? Could he 
allude to an object on whom I dared not even think? 

“ Compose yourself,” said Clerval, who observed my 
change of colour, “ I will not mention it, if it agitates you; 
but your father and cousin would be very happy if they 
received a letter from you in your own hand-writing. 
They hardly know how ill you have been, and are uneasy 
at vour long silence.” 

Is that all, my dear Henry ? How could you suppose 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


49 

that my first thought would not fly towards those dear, 
dear friends whom I love, and who are so deserving of my 
love.” 

“ If this is your present temper, my friend, you will per¬ 
haps be glad to see a letter that has been lying here some 
days for you: it is from your cousin, I believe.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

Clerval then put the following letter into my hands. It 
was from my own Elizabeth: — 

“ My dearest Cousin, 

<c You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters 
of dear kind Henry are not sufficient to reassure me on your 
account. You are forbidden to write—to hold a pen; yet 
one word from you, dear Victor, is necessary to calm our 
apprehensions. For a long time I have thought that each 
post would bring this line, and my persuasions have 
restrained my uncle from undertaking a journey to Ingol- 
stadt. I have prevented his encountering the inconveni¬ 
ences and perhaps dangers of.?o long a journey; yet how 
often have I regretted not being able to perform it myself! 
I figure to myself that the task of attending on your sick 
bed has devolved on some mercenary old nurse, who could 
never guess your wishes, nor minister to them with the 
care and affection of your poor cousin. Yet that is over 
now : Clerval writes that indeed you are getting better. I 
eagerly hope that you will confirm this intelligence soon in 
your ow r n handwriting. 

“ Get well—and return to us. You will find a happy, 
cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly. Your 
father’s health is vigorous, and he asks but to see you,— 
but to be assured that you are well; and not a care will 
ever cloud his benevolent countenance. How pleased you 
would be to remark the improvement of our Ernest! He 
is now sixteen, and full of activity and spirit. He is de¬ 
sirous to be a true Swiss, and to enter into foreign service ; 

E 




50 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


but we cannot part with him, at least until his elder bro¬ 
ther return to us. My uncle is not pleased with the idea 
of a military career in a distant country; but Ernest never 
had your powers of application. He looks upon study as 
an odious fetter;—his time is spent in the open air, climb¬ 
ing the hills or rowing on the lake. I fear that he will be¬ 
come an idler, unless we yield the point, and permit him to 
enter on the profession which lie has selected. 

“ Little alteration, except the growth of our dear chil¬ 
dren, has taken place since you left us. The blue lake, and 
snow-clad mountains, they never change; — and I think 
our placid home, and our contented hearts are regulated by 
the same immutable laws. My trifling occupations take up 
my time and amuse me, and I am rewarded for any exer¬ 
tions by seeing none but happy, kind faces around me. 
Since you left us, but one change has taken place in our 
little household. Do you remember on what occasion Jus¬ 
tine Mojitz entered our family ? Probably you do not; I 
will relate her history, therefore, in a few words. Madame 
Moritz, her mother, was a widow with four children, of 
whom Justine was the third. This girl had always been 
the favourite of her father; but, through a strange per¬ 
versity, her mother could not endure her, and, after the 
death of M. Moritz, treated her very ill. My aunt observed 
this ; and, when Justine was twelve years of age, prevailed 
on her mother to allow her to live at our house. The 
republican institutions of our country have produced 
simpler and happier manners than those which prevail in 
the great monarchies that surround it. Hence there is less 
distinction between the several classes of its inhabitants ; 
and the lower orders, being neither so poor nor so despised, 
their manners are more refined and moral. A servant in 
Geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in France 
and England. Justine, thus received in our family, learned 
the duties of a servant; a condition which, in our for¬ 
tunate country, does not include the idea of ignorance, 
and a sacrifice of the dignity of a human being. 

“ Justine, you may remember, was a great favourite of 
yours; and I recollect you once remarked, that if you were 
in an ill-humour, one glance from Justine could dissipate 






THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


51 


it, for the same reason that Ariosto gives concerning the 
beauty of Angelica—she looked so frank-hearted and happy. 
My aunt conceived a great attachment for her, by which she 
was induced to give her an education superior to that 
which she had at first intended. This benefit was fully 
repaid; Justine was the most grateful little creature in the 
world : I do not mean that she made any professions; I 
never heard one pass her lips; but you could see by her 
eyes that she almost adored her protectress. Although her 
disposition was gay, and in many respects inconsiderate, 
yet she paid the greatest attention to every gesture of my 
aunt. She thought her the model of all excellence, and 
endeavoured to imitate her phraseology and manners, so 
that even now she often reminds me of her. 

“ When my dearest aunt died, every one was too much 
occupied in their own grief to notice poor Justine, who had 
attended her during her illness with the most anxious affec¬ 
tion. Poor Justine was very ill; but other trials wore re¬ 
served for her. 

“ One by one, her brothers and sister died; and her 
mother, with the exception of her neglected daughter, was 
left childless. The conscience of the woman was troubled ; 
she began to think that the deaths of her favourites was a 
judgment from heaven to chastise her partiality. She w r as 
a Roman catholic; and I believe her confessor confirmed 
the idea which she had conceived. Accordingly, a few 
months after your departure for Ingolstadt, Justine was 
called home by her repentant mother. Poor girl ! she wept 
when she quitted our house; she was much altered since 
the death of my aunt; grief had given softness and a win¬ 
ning mildness to her manners, which had before been re¬ 
markable for vivacity. Nor was her residence at her 
mother’s house of a nature to restore her gaiety. The 
poor woman was very vacillating in her repentance. She 
sometimes begged Justine to forgive her unkindness, but 
much oftener accused her of having caused the deaths of 
her brothers and sister. Perpetual fretting at length threw 
Madame Moritz into a decline, which at first increased her 
irritability, but she is now at peace for ever. She died on 
the first approach of cold weather, at the beginning of this 

e 2 


52 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


last winter. Justine has returned to us; and I assure you 
I love her tenderly. She is very clever and gentle, and 
extremely pretty ; as 1 mentioned before, her mien and 
her expressions continually remind me of my dear aunt. 

u I must say also a few words to you, my dear cousin, 
of little darling William. I wish you could see him ; he is 
very tall of his age, with sweet laughing blue eyes, dark 
eyelashes, and curling hair. When he smiles, two little 
dimples appear on each cheek, which are rosy with health. 
He has already had one or two little wives , but Louisa 
Biron is his favourite, a pretty little girl of five years of 
age. 

“ Now, dear Victor, I dare say you wish to be indulged 
in a little gossip concerning the good people of Geneva. 
The pretty Miss Mansfield has already received the con¬ 
gratulatory visits on her approaching marriage with a 
young Englishman, John Melbourne, Esq. Her ugly 
sister, Manon, married M. Duvillard, the rich banker, last 
autumn. Your favourite schoolfellow, Louis Manoir, has 
suffered several misfortunes since the departure of Clerval 
from Geneva. But he has already recovered his spirits, 
and is reported to be on the point of marrying a very lively 
pretty Frenchwoman, Madame Tavernier. She is a widow, 
and much older than Manoir; but she is very much admired, 
and a favourite with everybody. 

“ I have written myself into better spirits, dear cousin ; 
hut my anxiety returns upon me as I conclude. Write, 
dearest Victor, — one line — one word will be a blessing to 
us. Ten thousand thanks to Henry for his kindness, his 
affection, and his many letters: we are sincerely grateful. 
Adieu! my cousin; take care of yourself; and, I entreat you, 
write! 

<( Elizabeth Lavenza. 

u Geneva, March 18th, 17— 

" Dear, dear Elizabeth ! ” I exclaimed, when I had read 
her letter, “ I will write instantly, and relieve them from 
the anxiety they must feel.” I wrote, and this exertion 
greatly fatigued me ; but my convalescence had commenced, 
and proceeded regularly. In another fortnight I was able 
to leave my chamber. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


53 


One of my first duties on my recovery was to introduce 
Clerval to the several professors of the university. In doing 
this, I underwent a kind of rough usage, ill befitting the 
wounds that my mind had sustained. Ever since the fatal 
night, the end of my labours, and the beginning of my 
misfortunes, I had conceived a violent antipathy even to 
the name of natural philosophy. When I was otherwise 
quite restored to health, the sight of a chemical instrument 
would renew all the agony of my nervous symptoms. Henry 
saw this, and had removed all my apparatus from my view. 
He had also changed my apartment; for he perceived 
that I had acquired a dislike for the room which had pre¬ 
viously been my laboratory. But these cares of Clerval 
were made of no avail when I visited the professors. 
M. Waldman inflicted torture when he praised, with kind¬ 
ness and warmth, the astonishing progress I had made in 
the sciences. He soon perceived that I disliked the sub¬ 
ject ; but not guessing the real cause, he attributed my 
feelings to modesty, and changed the subject from my im¬ 
provement, to the science itself, with a desire, as I evidently 
saw, of drawing me out. What could I do ? He meant to 
please, and he tormented me. I felt as if he had placed 
carefully, one by one, in my view those instruments which 
were to be afterwards used in putting me to a slow and 
cruel death. I writhed under his words, yet dared not 
exhibit the pain I felt. Clerval, whose eyes and feelings 
were always quick in discerning the sensations of others, 
declined the subject, alleging, in excuse, his total ignorance ; 
and the conversation took a more general turn. I thanked 
my friend from my heart, but I did not speak. I saw 
plainly that he was surprised, but he never attempted to 
draw my secret from me; and although I loved him with 
a mixture of affection and reverence that knew no bounds, 
yet I could never persuade myself to confide to him that 
event which was so often present to my recollection, but 
which I feared the detail to another would only impress 
more deeply. 

M. Krempe was not equally docile; and in my condition 
at that time, of almost insupportable sensitiveness, his harsh 
blunt encomiums gave me even more pain than the bene- 

e 3 


54 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


volent approbation of M. Walclman. “ D—n the fellow! ” 
cried he; ee why, M. Clerval, I assure you he has outstript 
us all. Ay, stare if you please ; but it is nevertheless true. 
A youngster who, but a few years ago, believed in Corne¬ 
lius Agrippa as firmly as in the gospel, has now set himself 
at the head of the university; and if he is not soon pulled 
down, we shall all be out of countenance. — Ay, ay,” con¬ 
tinued he, observing my face expressive of suffering, “ M. 
Frankenstein is modest; an excellent quality in a young 
man. Young men should be diffident of themselves, you 
know, M. Clerval: I was myself when young ; but that 
wears out in a very short time.” 

M. Krempe had now commenced an eulogy on himself, 
which happily turned the conversation from a subject that 
was so annoying to me. 

Clerval had never sympathised in my tastes for natural 
science ; and his literary pursuits differed wholly from those 
which had occupied me. He came to the university with 
the design of making himself complete master of the oriental 
languages, as thus he should open a field for the plan of life 
he had marked out for himself. Resolved to pursue no 
inglorious career, he turned his eyes toward the East, as 
affording scope for his spirit of enterprise. The Persian, 
Arabic, and Sanscrit languages engaged his attention, and 
I was easily induced to enter on the same studies. Idleness 
had ever been irksome to me, and now that I wished to fly 
from reflection, and hated my former studies, I felt great 
relief in being the fellow-pupil with my friend, and found 
not only instruction but consolation in the works of the 
orientalists. I did not, like him, attempt a critical know¬ 
ledge of their dialects, for I did not contemplate making 
any other use of them than temporary amusement. I read 
merely to understand their meaning, and they well repaid 
my labours. Their melancholy is soothing, and their joy 
elevating, to a degree I never experienced in studying the 
authors of any other country. When you read their writ¬ 
ings, life appears to consist in a warm sun and a garden of 
roses, — in the smiles and frowns of a fair enemy, and the 
fire that consumes your own heart. How different from 
the manly and heroical poetry of Greece and Rome ! 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


56 


• 

Summer passed away in these occupations, and my re¬ 
turn to Geneva was fixed for the latter end of autumn ; 
but being delayed by several accidents, winter and snow 
arrived, the roads were deemed impassable, and my journey 
was retarded until the ensuing spring. I felt this delay 
very bitterly; for I longed to see my native town and my 
beloved friends. My return had only been delayed so long, 
from an unwillingness to leave Clerval in a strange place, 
before he had become acquainted with any of its inhabitants. 
The winter, however, was spent cheerfully; and although 
the spring was uncommonly late, when it came its beauty 
compensated for its dilatoriness. 

The month of May had already commenced, and I ex¬ 
pected the letter daily which was to fix the date of my 
departure, when Henry proposed a pedestrian tour in the 
environs of Ingolstadt, that I might bid a personal farewell 
to the country I had so long inhabited. I acceded with 
pleasure to this proposition: I was fond of exercise, and 
Clerval had always been my favourite companion in the 
rambles of this nature that I had taken among the scenes 
of my native country. 

We passed a fortnight in these perambulations: my 
health and spirits had long been restored, and they gained 
additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed, the 
natural incidents of our progress, and the conversation of 
my friend. Study had before secluded me from the inter¬ 
course of my fellow-creatures, and rendered me unsocial; 
but Clerval called forth the better feelings of my heart; he 
again taught me to love the aspect of nature, and the 
cheerful faces of children. Excellent friend ! how sin¬ 
cerely did you love me, and endeavour to elevate my mind 
until it was on a level with your own ! A selfish pursuit 
had cramped and narrowed me, until your gentleness and 
affection warmed and opened my senses ; I became the same 
happy creature who, a few years ago, loved and beloved by 
all, had no sorrow or care. When happy, inanimate 
nature had the power of bestowing on me the most de¬ 
lightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled 
me with ecstasy. The present season was indeed divine ; 
the flowers of spring bloomed in the hedges, while those 

e 4 




56 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


of summer were already in bud. I was undisturbed by 
thoughts which during the preceding year had pressed upon 
me, notwithstanding my endeavours to throw them off^ 
with an invincible burden. 

Henry rejoiced in my gaiety, and sincerely sympathised 
in my feelings : he exerted himself to amuse me, while he 
expressed the sensations that filled his soul. The resources 
of his mind on this occasion were truly astonishing : his 
conversation was full of imagination ; and very often, in 
imitation of the Persian and Arabic writers, he invented 
tales of wonderful fancy and passion. At other times he 
repeated my favourite poems, or drew me out into argu¬ 
ments, which he supported with great ingenuity. 

We returned to our college on a Sunday afternoun : the 
peasants were dancing, and every one we met appeared gay 
and happy. My own spirits were high, and I bounded 
along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity. 


CHAPTER VII. 

On my return, I found the following letter from my 
father: — 

“ My dear Victor, 

“ You have probably waited impatiently for a letter to fix 
the date of your return to us; and I was at first tempted to 
write only a few lines, merely mentioning the day on which 
I should expect you. But that would be a cruel kindness, 
and I dare not do it. What would be your surprise, my son, 
when you expected a happy and glad welcome, to behold, on 
the contrary, tears and wretchedness ? And how, Victor,can I 
relate our misfortune ? Absence cannot have rendered you 
callous to our joys and griefs; and how shall I inflict pain 
on my long absent son ? I wish to prepare you for the woful 
news, but I know it is impossible; even now your eye 
skims over the page, to seek the words which are to convey 
to you the horrible tidings. 

“ William is dead! — that sweet child, whose smiles de- 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 57 

lighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so 
gay ! Victor, he is murdered ! 

“ I will not attempt to console you; but will simply 
relate the circumstances of the transaction. 

“ Last Thursday (May 7th), I, my niece, and your two 
brothers, went to walk in Plainpalais. The evening was 
warm and serene, and we prolonged our walk farther than 
usual. It was already dusk before we thought of returning; 
and then we discovered that William and Ernest, who had 
gone on before, were not to be found. We accordingly 
rested on a seat until they should return. Presently Ernest 
came, and enquired if we had seen his brother : he said, 
that he had been playing with him, that William had run 
away to hide himself, and that he vainly sought for him, 
and afterwards waited for him a long time, but that he did 
not return. 

“ This account rather alarmed us, and we continued 
to search for him until night fell, when Elizabeth con¬ 
jectured that he might have returned to the house. He 
was not there. We returned again, with torches ; for I could 
not rest, when I thought that my sweet boy had lost him¬ 
self, and was exposed to all the damps and dews of night; 
Elizabeth also suffered extreme anguish. About five in the 
morning I discovered my lovely boy, whom the night 
before I had seen blooming and active in health, stretched 
on the grass livid and motionless: the print of the mur¬ 
derer’s finger was on his neck. 

“ He was conveyed home, and the anguish that was 
visible in my countenance betrayed the secret to Elizabeth. 
She was very earnest to see the corpse. At first I attempted 
to prevent her; but she persisted, and entering the room 
where it lay, hastily examined the neck of the victim, and 
clasping her hands exclaimed, e O God! I have murdered 
my darling child!’ 

“ She fainted, and -was restored with extreme difficulty. 
When she again lived, it was only to weep and sigh. She 
told me, that that same evening William had teased her to 
let him wear a very valuable miniature that she possessed 
of your mother. This picture is gone, and was doubtless 
the temptation which urged the murderer to the deed. We 


58 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


have no trace of him at present, although our exertions fco 
discover him are unremitted ; but they will not restore my 
beloved William ! 

“ Come, dearest Victor; you alone can console Eliza¬ 
beth. She weeps continually, and accuses herself unjustly 
as the cause of his death ; her words pierce my heart. We 
are all unhappy; but will not that be an additional motive 
for you, my son, to return and be our comforter? Your 
dear mother! Alas, Victor! I now say. Thank God she 
did not live to witness the cruel, miserable death of her 
youngest darling! 

“Come, Victor; not brooding thoughts of vengeance against 
the assassin, but with feelings of peace and gentleness, that 
will heal, instead of festering, the wounds of our minds. 
Enter the house of mourning, my friend, but with kindness 
and affection for those who love you, and not with hatred 
for your enemies. 

“ Your affectionate and afflicted father, 

“ Alphonse Frankenstein. 

“ Geneva, May 1 2th, 17— ” 

Clerval, who had watched my countenance as I read this 
letter, was surprised to observe the despair that succeeded 
to the joy I at first expressed on receiving news from my 
friends. I threw the letter on the table, and covered my 
face with my hands. 

“ My dear Frankenstein,” exclaimed Henry, when he 
perceived me weep with bitterness, “ are you always to be 
unhappy ? My dear friend, what has happened ? ” 

I motioned to him to take up the letter, while I walked 
up and down the room in the extremest agitation. Tears 
also gushed from the eyes of Clerval, as he read the account 
of my misfortune. 

“ I can offer you no consolation, my friend,” said he; 
“your disaster is irreparable. What do you intend to 
do?” 

“To go instantly to Geneva: come with me, Henry, to 
order the horses.” 

During our walk, Clerval endeavoured to say a few 
words of consolation; he could only express his heartfelt 
sympathy. “ Poor William !” said he, “ dear lovely child, 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


59 

he now sleeps with his angel mother! Who that had seen him 
bright and joyous in his young beauty, but must weep over 
his untimely loss ! To die so miserably; to feel the mur¬ 
derer’s grasp ! How much more a murderer, that could 
destroy such radiant innocence! Poor little fellow ! one 
only consolation have we; his friends mourn and weep, 
but he is at rest. The pang is over, his sufferings are at 
an end for ever. A sod covers his gentle form, and he knows 
no pain. He can no longer be a subject for pity; we must 
reserve that for his miserable survivors.” 

Clerval spoke thus as we hurried through the streets; 
the words impressed themselves on my mind, and I remem¬ 
bered them afterwards in solitude. But now, as soon as 
the horses arrived, I hurried into a cabriolet, and bade 
farewell to my friend. 

My journey was very melancholy. At first I wished 
to hurry on, for I longed to console and sympathise with 
my loved and sorrowing friends; but when I drew near 
my native town, I slackened my progress. I could hardly 
sustain the multitude of feelings that crowded into my 
mind. I passed through scenes familiar to my youth, but 
which I had not seen for nearly six years. How altered 
every thing might be during that time! One sudden and 
desolating change had taken place; but a thousand little 
circumstances might have by degrees worked other alter¬ 
ations, which, although they were done more tranquilly, 
might not be the less decisive. Fear overcame me; I 
dared not advance, dreading a thousand nameless evils 
that made me tremble, although I was unable to define 
them. 

I remained two days at Lausanne, in this painful state 
of mind. I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid ; 
all around was calm; and the snowy mountains, “the palaces 
of nature,” were not changed. By degrees the calm and 
heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my journey 
towards Geneva. 

The road ran by the side of the lake, which became 
narrower as I approached my native town. I discovered 
more distinctly the black sides of Jura, and the bright 
summit of Mont Blanc. I wept like a child. “ Dear 


60 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

mountains ! my own beautiful lake ! how do you welcome 
your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and 
lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or 
to mock at my unhappiness ? ” 

I fear, my friend, that I shall render myself tedious by 
dwelling on these preliminary circumstances ; but they were 
days of comparative happiness, and I think of them with 
pleasure. My country, my beloved country ! who but a 
native can tell the delight I took in again beholding thy 
streams, thy mountains, and, more than all, thy lovely lake ! 

Yet, as I drew nearer home, grief and fear again over¬ 
came me. Night also closed around; and when I could 
hardly see the dark mountains, I felt still more gloomily. 
The picture appeared a vast and dim scene of evil, and I 
foresaw obscurely that I w r as destined to become the most 
wretched of human beings. Alas ! I prophesied truly, and 
failed only in one single circumstance, that in all the misery 
I imagined and (headed, I did not conceive the hundredth 
part of the anguish I was destined to endure. 

It was completely dark when I arrived in the environs 
of Geneva ; the gates of the town were already shut; and 
I was obliged to pass the night at Secheron, a village at the 
distance of half a league from the city. The sky was 
serene; and, as I was unable to rest, I resolved to visit the 
spot where my poor William had been murdered. As I 
could not pass through the town, I was obliged to cross the 
lake in a boat to arrive at Plainpalais. During this short 
voyage I saw the lightnings playing on the summit of Mont 
Blanc in the most beautiful figures. The storm appeared 
to approach rapidly ; and, on landing, I ascended a low 
hill, that I might observe its progress. It advanced; the 
heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming 
slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased. 

I quitted my seat, and walked on, although the darkness 
and storm increased every minute, and the thunder burst 
with a terrific crash over my head. It was echoed from 
Saleve, the Juras, and the Alps of Savoy ; vivid flashes of 
lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making 
it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant every 
thing seemed of a pitchy darkness, until the eye recovered 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 6 1 

itself from the preceding flash. The storm, as is often the 
case in Switzerland, appeared at once in various parts of 
the heavens. The most violent storm hung exactly north 
of the town, over that part of the lake which lies between 
the promontory of Belrive and the village of Copet. Another 
storm enlightened Jura with faint flashes; and another 
darkened and sometimes disclosed the Mole, a peaked 
mountain to the east of the lake. 

While I watched the tempest, so beautiful yet terrific, I 
wandered on with a hasty step. This noble war in the 
sky elevated my spirits ; I clasped my hands, and exclaimed 
aloud, “ William, dear angel ! this is thy funeral, this thy 
dirge ! ” As I said these words, I perceived in the gloom 
a figure which stole from behind a clump of trees near me; 
I stood fixed, gazing intently : I could not be mistaken. 
A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered 
its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the de¬ 
formity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to hu¬ 
manity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the 
filthy daemon, to whom I had given life. What did he 
there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the 
murderer of my brother ? No sooner did that idea cross 
my imagination, than I became convinced of its truth; my 
teeth chattered, and I was forced to lean against a tree for 
support. The figure passed me quickly, and I lost it in 
the gloom. Nothing in human shape could have destroyed 
that fair child. He was the murderer ! I could not doubt 
it. The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof 
of the fact. I thought of pursuing the devil; but it would 
have been in vain, for another flash discovered him to me 
hanging among the rocks of the nearly perpendicular as¬ 
cent of Mont Saleve, a hill that bounds Plainpalais on the 
south. He soon reached the summit, and disappeared. 

I remained motionless. The thunder ceased ; but the 
rain still continued, and the scene was enveloped in an 
impenetrable darkness. I revolved in my mind the events 
which I had until now sought to forget: the whole train 
of my progress towards the creation ; the appearance of the 
work of my own hands alive at my bedside; its departure. 
Two years had now nearly elapsed since the night on which 



•62 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


he first received Kfe ; and was this his first crime ? Alas ! 
I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose 
delight was in carnage and misery; had he not murdered 
my brother ? 

No one can conceive the anguish I suffered during the 
remainder of the night, which I spent, cold and wet, in the 
open air. But I did not feel the inconvenience of the 
weather; my imagination was busy in scenes of evil and 
despair. I considered the being whom I had cast among 
mankind, and endowed with the will and power to effect 
purposes of horror, such as the deed which he had now 
done, nearly in the light of my own vampire, my own spirit 
let loose from the grave, and forced to destroy all that was 
dear to me. 

Day dawned ; and I directed my steps towards the town. 
The gates were open, and I hastened to my father’s house. 
My first thought was to discover what I knew of the mur¬ 
derer, and cause instant pursuit to be made. But I paused 
when I reflected on the story that I had to tell. A being 
whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met 
me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible 
mountain. I remembered also the nervous fever with which 
I had been seized just at the time that I dated my creation, 
and which would give an air of delirium to a tale other¬ 
wise so utterly improbable. I well knew that if any other 
had communicated such a relation to me, I should have 
looked upon it as the ravings of insanity. Besides, the 
strange nature of the animal would elude all pursuit, even 
if I were so far credited as to persuade my relatives to 
commence it. And then of what use would be pursuit ? 
Who could arrest a creature capable of scaling the over¬ 
hanging sides of Mont Saleve ? These reflections deter¬ 
mined me, and I resolved to remain silent. 

It was about five in the morning when I entered my 
father’s house. I told the servants not to disturb the family, 
and went into the library to attend their usfal hour of rising. 

Six years had elapsed, passed as a dream but for one 
indelible trace, and I stood in the same place where I had 
last embraced my father before my departure for Ingolstadt. 
Beloved and venerable parent! He still remained to me. 


TIIE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


6*3 


I gazed on the picture of my mother, which stood over thj 
mantel-piece. It was an historical subject, painted at my 
father’s desire, and represented Caroline Beaufort in an 
agony of despair, kneeling by the coffin of her dead father. 
Her garb was rustic, and her cheek pale ; but there was 
an air of dignity and beauty, that hardly permitted the 
sentiment of pity. Below this picture was a miniature of 
William; and my tears flowed when I looked upon it. 
While I was thus engaged, Ernest entered: he had heard 
me arrive, and hastened to welcome me. He expressed a 
sorrowful delight to see me : “ Welcome, my dearest Vic¬ 
tor,” said he. “ Ah ! I wish you had come three months 
ago, and then you would have found us all joyous and 
delighted. You come to us now to share a misery which 
nothing can alleviate; yet your presence will, I hope, revive 
our father, who seems sinking under his misfortune; and 
your persuasions -will induce poor Elizabeth to cease her 
vain and tormenting self-accusations. — Poor William ! 
he was our darling and our pride! ” 

Tears, unrestrained, fell from my brother’s eyes ; a sense 
of mortal agony crept over my frame. Before, I had only 
imagined the wretchedness of my desolated home; the 
reality came on me as a new, and a not less terrible, disaster. 
I tried to calm Ernest ; I enquired more minutely con¬ 
cerning my father, and her I named my cousin. 

“ She most of all,” said Ernest, “ requires consolation ; 
she accused herself of having caused the death of my brother, 
and that made her very wretched. But since the murderer 
has been discovered—” 

“ The murderer discovered ! Good God ! how can that 
be ? who could attempt to pursue him ? It is impossible; 
one might as well try to overtake the winds, or confine a 
mountain-stream -with a straw. I saw him too ; he was 
free last night! ” 

“ I do not know what you mean,” replied my brother, 
in accents of wonder, “ but to us the dicosvery we have 
made completes our misery. No one would believe it at 
first; and even now Elizabeth will not be convinced, not¬ 
withstanding all the evidence. Indeed, who would credit 
that Justine Moritz, who was so amiable, and fond of all 




64 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


the family, could suddenly become capable of so frightful, 
so appalling a crime ? ” 

Justine Moritz ! Poor, poor girl, is she the accused ? 
But it is wrongfully; every one knows that ; no one be¬ 
lieves it, surely, Ernest ? ” 

“ No one did at first; but several circumstances came 
out, that have almost forced conviction upon us ; and her 
own behaviour has been so confused, as to add to the evi¬ 
dence of facts a weight that, I fear, leaves no hope for doubt. 
But she will be tried to-day, and you will then hear all.” 

He related that, the morning on which the murder of 
poor William had been discovered, Justine had been taken 
ill, and confined to her bed for several days. During this 
interval, one of the servants, happening to examine the 
apparel she had worn on the night of the murder, had dis¬ 
covered in her pocket the picture of my mother, which had 
been judged to be the temptation of the murderer. The 
servant instantly showed it to one of the others, who, with¬ 
out saying a word to any of the family, went to a magis¬ 
trate ; and, upon their deposition, Justine was apprehended. 
On being charged with the fact, the poor girl confirmed 
the suspicion in a great measure by her extreme confusion 
of manner. 

This was a strange tale, but it did not shake my faith ; 
and I replied earnestly, “ You are all mistaken; I know 
the murderer. Justine, poor, good Justine, is innocent.” 

At that instant my father entered. I saw unhappiness 
deeply impressed on his countenance, but he endeavoured 
to welcome me cheerfully; and, after we had exchanged 
our mournful greeting, would have introduced some other 
topic than that of our disaster, had not Ernest exclaimed, 
“ Good God, papa! Victor says that he knows who was 
the murderer of poor William.” 

“ We do also, unfortunately,” replied my father ; l{ for 
indeed I had rather have been for ever ignorant than have 
discovered so much depravity and ingratitude in one I 
valued so highly.” 

“ My dear father, you are mistaken; Justine is in¬ 
nocent.” 

“ If she is, God forbid that she should suffer as guilty. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 6’5 

She is to be tried to-day, and I hope, I sincerely hope, that 
she will be acquitted.” 

This speech calmed me. I was firmly convinced in my 
own mind that Justine, and indeed every human being, was 
guiltless of this murder. I had no fear, therefore, that any 
circumstantial evidence could be brought forward strong 
enough to convict her. My tale was not one to announce 
publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as 
madness by the vulgar. Did any one indeed exist, except 
I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses con¬ 
vinced him, in the existence of the living monument of 
presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon 
the world ? 

We were soon joined by Elizabeth. Time had altered 
her since I last beheld her ; it bad endowed her with love¬ 
liness surpassing the beauty of her childish years. There 
was the same candour, the same vivacity, but it was allied 
to an expression more full of sensibility and intellect. She 
welcomed me with the greatest affection. “ Your arrival, 
my dear cousin,” said she, ec fills me with hope. You per¬ 
haps will find some means to justify my poor guiltless Jus¬ 
tine. Alas ! who is safe, if she be convicted of crime ? I 
rely on her innocence as certainly as I do upon my own. 
Our misfortune is doubly hard to us ; we have not only lost 
that lovely darling boy, but this poor girl, whom I sincerely 
love, is to be torn away by even a worse fate. If she is 
condemned, I never shall know joy more. But she will 
not, I am sure she will not; and then I shall be happy 
[ again, even after the sad death of my little William.” 

“ She is innocent, my Elizabeth,” said I, “ and'that 
j shall be proved; fear nothing, but let your spirits be cheered 
by the assurance of her acquittal.” 

“ How kind and generous you are ! every one else be¬ 
lieves in her guilt, and that made me wretched, for I knew 
that it w r as impossible: and to see every one else prejudiced 
in so deadly a manner rendered me hopeless and despair- 
\ ing.” She wept. 

“ Dearest niece,” said my father, “ dry your tears. If 
he is, as you believe, innocent, rely on the justice of our 

F 





66 


FRANKENSTEIN; On, 


laws, and the activity with which I shall prevent the 
slightest shadow of partiality.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 

We passed a few sad hours, until eleven o’clock, when the 
trial was to commence. My father and the rest of the 
family being obliged to attend as witnesses, I accompanied 
them to the court. During the whole of this wretched 
mockery of justice I suffered living torture'. fit was to be 
decided, whether the result of my curiosity and lawless 
devices would cause the death of two of my fellow-beings : 
one a smiling babe, full of innocence and joy; the other 
far more dreadfully murdered, with every aggravation of 
infamy that could make the murder memorable in horror. 
Justine also was a girl of merit, and possessed qualities 
which promised to render her life happy: now all was to 
be obliterated in an ignominious grave; and I the cause ! 
A. thousand times rather would I have confessed myself 
guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine; but I was absent 
when it was committed, and such a declaration would have 
been considered as the ravings of a madman, and would not 
have exculpated her who suffered through me. 

The appearance of Justine was calm. She was dressed 
in mourning ; and her countenance, always engaging, was 
rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely 
beautiful. Yet she appeared confident in innocence, and 
did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thou¬ 
sands ; for all the kindness which her beauty might other¬ 
wise have excited, was obliterated in the minds of the 
spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was 
supposed to have committed. She was tranquil, yet her 
tranquillity was evidently constrained; and as her con¬ 
fusion had before been adduced as a proof of her guilt, 
she worked up her mind to an appearance of courage. 
When she entered the court, she threw her eyes round it, 
and quickly discovered where we were seated. A tear 





THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


67 


seemed to dim her eye when she saw us; but she quickly 
recovered herself, and a look of sorrowful affection seemed 
to attest her utter guiltlessness. 

The trial began; and, after the advocate against her had 
stated the charge, several witnesses were called. Several 
strange facts combined against her, which might have 
staggered any one who had not such proof of her inno¬ 
cence as I had. She had been out the whole of the night 
on which the murder had been committed, and towards 
morning had been perceived by a market-woman not far 
from the spot where the body of the murdered child had been 
afterwards,4’onnd. The woman asked her what she did 
there; but-she looked very strangely, and only returned a 
confused and unintelligible answer. She returned to the 
house about eight o’clock ; and, when one enquired where 
she had passed the night, she replied that she had been 
looking for the child, and demanded earnestly if any thing 
had been heard concerning him. When shown the body, 
she fell into violent hysterics, and kept her bed for several 
days. The picture was then produced, which the servant 
had found in her pocket; and when Elizabeth, in a fal¬ 
tering voice, proved that it was the same which, an 
hour before the child had been missed, she had placed 
round his neck, a murmur of horror and indignation filled 
the court. 

Justine was called on for her defence. As the trial had 
proceeded, her countenance had altered. Surprise, horror, 
and misery were strongly expressed. Sometimes she strug¬ 
gled with her tears; but, when she was desired to plead, 
she collected her powers, and spoke, in an audible, although 
variable voice. 

(( God knows,” she said, “ how entirely I am innocent. 
But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit 
me : I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation 
of the facts which have been adduced against me ; and I 
hope the character I have always borne will incline my 
judges to a favourable interpretation, where any circum¬ 
stance appears doubtful or suspicious.” 

She then related that, by the permission of Elizabeth, 
she had passed the evening of the night on which the 

p o 

r /** 


68 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


murder had been committed at the house of an aunt at 
Chene, a village situated at about a league from Geneva. 
On her return, at about nine o’clock, she met a man, who 
asked her if she had seen any thing of the child who was 
lost. She was alarmed by this account, and passed several 
hours in looking for him, when the gates of Geneva were 
shut, and she was forced to remain several hours of the 
night in a barn belonging to a cottage, being unwilling to 
call up the inhabitants, to whom she was well known. Most 
of the night she spent here watching; towards morning she 
believed that she slept for a few minutes; some steps dis¬ 
turbed her, and slie awoke. It was dawn, and she quitted 
her asylum, that she might again endeavour to find my 
brother. If she had gone near the spot where his body 
lay, it was without her knowledge. That she had been 
bewildered when questioned by the market-woman was not 
surprising, since she had passed a sleepless night, and the 
fate of poor William was yet uncertain. Concerning the 
picture she could give no account. 

“ I know,” continued the unhappy victim, “ how 
heavily and fatally this one circumstance weighs against 
me, but I have no power of explaining it; and when I 
have expressed my utter ignorance, I am only left to con¬ 
jecture concerning the probabilities by which it might have 
been placed in my pocket. But here also I am checked. 
I believe that I have no enemy on earth, and none surely 
would have been so wicked as to destroy me wantonly. Did 
the murderer place it there ? I know of no opportunity 
afforded him for so doing ; or, if I had, why should he have 
stolen the jewel, to part with it again so soon ? 

“ I commit my cause to the justice of my judges, yet I 
see no room for hope. I beg permission to have a few wit¬ 
nesses examined concerning my character; and if their 
testimony shall not overweigh my supposed guilt, I must 
be condemned, although I would pledge my salvation on 
my innocence.” 

Several witnesses were called, who had known her for 
many years, and they spoke well of her ; but fear, and 
hatred of the crime of which they supposed her guilty, 
rendered them timorous, and unwilling to come forward. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 6,9 

Elizabeth saw even this last resource, her excellent dis 
positions and irreproachable conduct, about to fail the 
accused, when, although violently agitated, she desired per¬ 
mission to address the court. 

“ I am,” said she, “ the cousin of the unhappy child 
who was murdered, or rather his sister, for I was educated 
by, and have lived with his parents ever since and even 
long before, his birth. It may therefore be judged indecent 
in me to come forward on this occasion but when I see a 
fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of 
her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that 
I may say what I know of her character. I am well ac¬ 
quainted with the accused. I have lived in the same house 
with her, at one time for five, and at another for nearly 
two years. During all that period she appeared to me the 
most amiable and benevolent of human creatures. She 
nursed Madame Frankenstein, my aunt, in her last illness, 
with the greatest affection and care; and afterwards at¬ 
tended her own mother during a tedious illness, in a man¬ 
ner that excited the admiration of all who knew her; after 
which she again lived in my uncle’s house, where she was 
beloved by all the family. She was warmly attached to the 
child who is now dead, and acted towards him like a most 
affectionate mother. For my own part, I do not hesitate 
to say, that, notwithstanding all the evidence produced 
against her, I believe and rely on her perfect innocence. 
She had no temptation for such an action : as to the bauble 
on which the chief proof rests, if she had earnestly desired 
it, I should have willingly given it to her; so much do I 
esteem and value her.” 

A murmur of approbation followed Elizabeth’s simple 
and powerful appeal; but it was excited by her generous 
interference, and not in favour of poor Justine, on whom 
the public indignation was turned with renewed violence, 
charging her with the blackest ingratitude. She herself 
wept as Elizabeth spoke, but she did not answer. My own 
agitation and anguish was extreme during the whole trial. 
I believed in her innocence; I knew it. Could the deemon, 
who had (I did not for a minute doubt) murdered my 
brother, also in his hellish sport have betrayed the innocent 

f 3 


TO 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


to death and ignominy? 1 could not sustain the horror of 
my situation ; and when I perceived that the popular voice, 
/.nd the countenances of the judges, had already condemned 
my unhappy victim, I rushed out of the court in agony. 
The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was 
sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my 
bosom, and would not forego their hold. 

I passed a night of unmingled wretchedness. In the 
morning I went to the court; my lips and throat were 
parched. I dared not ask the fatal question; but I was 
known, and the officer guessed the cause of my visit. The 
ballots had been thrown; they were all black, and Justine 
was condemned. 

I cannot pretend to describe what I then felt. I had 
before experienced sensations of horror; and I have endea¬ 
voured to bestow upon them adequate expressions, but words 
cannot convey an idea of the heart-sickening despair that 
I then endured. The person to whom I addressed myself 
added, that Justine had already confessed her guilt. “ That 
evidence,” he observed, “ was hardly required in so glaring 
a case, but I am glad of it; and, indeed, none of our 
judges like to condemn a criminal upon circumstantial 
evidence, be it ever so decisive.” 

This was strange and unexpected intelligence; what 
could it mean ? Had my eyes deceived me ? and was I 
really as mad as the whole world would believe me to be, if 
I disclosed the object of my suspicions ? I hastened to re¬ 
turn home, and Elizabeth eagerly demanded the result. 

ee My cousin,” replied I, <f it is decided as you may 
have expected; all judges had rather that ten innocent 
should suffer, than that one guilty should escape. But she 
has confessed.” 

This was a dire blow to poor Elizabeth, who had relied 
with firmness upon Justine’s innocence. “ Alas !” said she, 
“ how shall I ever again believe in human goodness ? 
Justine, whom I loved and esteemed as my sister, how 
could she put on those smiles of innocence only to betray ? 
her mild eyes seemed incapable of any severity or guile, and 
yet she has committed a murder.” 

Soon after we heard that the poor victim had expressed 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


71 


a desire to see my cousin. My father wished her not to 
go ; hut said, that he left it to her own judgment and feel¬ 
ings to decide. “ Yes,” said Elizabeth, “ I will go, al¬ 
though she is guilty; and you, Victor, shall accompany 
me : I cannot go alone.” The idea of this visit was tor¬ 
ture to me, yet I could not refuse. 

We entered the gloomy prison-chamber, and beheld 
Justine sitting on some straw at the farther end; her hands 
were manacled, and her head rested on her knees. She 
rose on seeing us enter; and when we were left alone with 
her, she threw herself at the feet of Elizabeth, weeping 
bitterly. My cousin wept also. 

“ Oh, Justine!”, said she, “why did you rob me of my 
last consolation ? I Velied on your innocence ,• and although 
I was then very wretched, I was not so miserable as I am 
now.” 

“And do you also believe that I am so very, very 
wicked ? Do you also join with my enemies to crush me, 
to condemn me as a murderer ?” Her voice was suffocated 
with sobs. 

“ Rise, my poor girl,” said Elizabeth, “ why do you 
kneel,- if you are innocent ? I am not one of your enemies; 
I believed you guiltless, notwithstanding every evidence, 
until I heard that you had yourself declared your guilt. 
That report, you say, is false; and he assured, dear Justine, 
that nothing can shake my confidence in you for a moment, 
but your own confession.” 

“ I did confess ; but I confessed a lie. I confessed, that 
I might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies 
heavier at my heart than all my other sins. The God of 
heaven forgive me ! Ever since I was condemned, my 
confessor has besieged me; he threatened and menaced, 
until I almost began to think that I was the monster that 
he said I was. He threatened excommunication and hell 
fire in my last moments, if I continued obdurate. Dear 
lady, I had none to support me; all looked on me as a 
wretch doomed to ignominy and perdition. What could I 
do ? In an evil hour I subscribed to a lie; and now only 
am I truly miserable.” 

She paused, weeping, and then continued—“ I thought 

f 4 


72 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


with horror, my sweet lady, that you should believe your 
Justine, whom your blessed aunt had so highly honoured, 
and whom you loved, was a creature capable of a crime 
which none but the devil himself could have perpetrated. 
Dear William ! dearest blessed child! I soon shall see 
you again in heaven, where we shall all be happy ; and that 
consoles me, going as I am to suffer ignominy and death.” 

“ Oh, Justine ! forgive me for having for one moment 
distrusted you. Why did you confess ? But do not 
mourn, dear girl. Do not fear. I will proclaim, I will 
prove your innocence. I will melt the stony hearts of 
your enemies by my tears and prayers. You shall not die ! 
— You, my play-fellow, my companion, my sister, perish 
on the scaffold ! No ! no ! I never could survive so hor¬ 
rible a misfortune.” 

Justine shook her head mournfully. “ I do no not fear 
to die,” she said; ff that pang is past. God raises my 
weakness, and gives me courage to endure the worst. I 
leave a sad and bitter world ; and if you remember me, 
and think of me as of one unjustly condemned, I am re¬ 
signed to the fate awaiting me. Learn from me, dear lady, 
to submit in patience to the will of Heaven ! ” 

During this conversation I had retired to a corner of 
the prison-room, where I could conceal the horrid anguish 
that possessed me. Despair ! Who dared talk of that ? 
The poor victim, who on the morrow was to pass the 
awful boundary between life and death, felt not as I did, 
such deep and bitter agony. I gnashed my teeth, and 
ground them together, uttering a groan that came from my 
inmost soul. Justine started. When she saw who it w r as, 
she approached me, and said, “ Dear sir, you are very 
kind to visit me; you, I hope, do not believe that I am 
guilty ? ” 

I could not answer. “ No, Justine,” said Elizabeth; 
“ he is more convinced of your innocence than I was ; for 
even when he heard that you had confessed, he did not 
credit it.” 

“ I truly thank him. In these last moments I feel the 
sincerest gratitude towards those who think of me with 
kindness. How sweet is the affection of others to such a 


TI1E MODERN PROMETHEUS. 73 

wretch as I am ! It removes more than half my misfor¬ 
tune ; and I feel as if I could die in peace, now that my 
innocence is acknowledged by you, dear lady, and your 
cousin.” 

Thus the poor sufferer tried to comfort others and her¬ 
self. She indeed gained the resignation she desired. But 
I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in 
my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation. Eli¬ 
zabeth also wept, and was unhappy ; but her’s also was the 
misery of innocence, which, like a cloud that passes over 
the fair moon, for a while hides but cannot tarnish its 
brightness. Anguish and despair had penetrated into the 
core of my heart; I bore a hell within me, which nothing 
could extinguish. We stayed several hours with Justine; 
and it was w r ith great difficulty that Elizabeth could tear 
herself away. “ I wish,” cried she, “ that I were to die 
with you ; I cannot live in this world of misery.” 

Justine assumed an air of cheerfulness, while she with 
difficulty repressed her bitter tears. She embraced Eliza¬ 
beth, and said, in a voice of half-suppressed emotion, 
fi Farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and 
only friend; may Heaven, in its bounty, bless and preserve 
you ; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever 
suffer ! Live, and be happy, and make others so.” 

And on the morrow Justine died. Elizabeth’s heart¬ 
rending eloquence failed to move the judges from their set¬ 
tled conviction in the criminality of the saintly sufferer. 
My passionate and indignant appeals were lost upon them. 
And when I received their cold answers, and heard the 
harsh unfeeling reasoning of these men, my purposed 
avowal died away on my lips. Thus I might proclaim 
myself a madman, but not revoke the sentence passed upon 
my wretched victim. She perished on the scaffold as a 
murderess! 

From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to con¬ 
template the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth. 
This also was my doing ! And my father’s woe, and the 
desolation of that late so smiling home—all was the work 
of my thrice-accursed hands! Ye weep, unhappy ones; 
but these are not your last tears ! Again shall you raise 


74 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR,* 


the funeral wail, and the sound of your lamentations shall 
again and again be heard! Frankenstein, your son, your 
kinsman, your early, much-loved friend; he who would 
spend each vital drop of blood for your sakes — who has 
no thought nor sense of joy, except as it is mirrored also 
in your dear countenances — who would fill the air with 
blessings, and spend his life in serving you — he bids 
you weep—to shed countless tears; happy beyond his hopes, 
if thus inexorable fate be satisfied, and if the destruction 
pause before the peace of the grave have succeeded to your 
sad torments! 

Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, hor¬ 
ror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow 
upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless 
victims to my unhallowed arts. 


CHAPTER IX. 

Nothing is more painful to the human mind, than, after 
the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of 
events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which 
follows, and deprives the soul both of hope and fear. 
Justine died; she rested; and I was alive. The blood 
flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and re¬ 
morse pressed on my heart, which nothing could remove. 
Sleep fled from my eyes; I wandered like an evil spirit, 
for I had committed deeds of mischief beyond description 
horrible, and more, much more (I persuaded myself), was 
yet behind. Yet my heart overflowed w r ith kindness, and 
the love of virtue. I had begun life with benevolent in¬ 
tentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should put 
them in practice, and make myself useful to my fellow- 
beings. Now all was blasted: instead of that serenity of 
conscience, which allowed me to look back upon the past 
with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise 
of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of 
guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, 
such as no language can describe. 



THE MODERN PR031ETIIETJS. 75 

This state of mind preyed upon my health, which had 
perhaps never entirely recovered from the first shock it had 
sustained. I shunned the face of man ; all sound of joy or 
complacency was torture to me; solitude was my only 
consolation — deep, dark, deathlike solitude. 

My father observed with pain the alteration perceptible 
in my disposition and habits, and endeavoured by argu¬ 
ments deduced from the feelings of his serene conscience 
and guiltless life, to inspire me with fortitude, and awaken 
in me the courage to dispel the dark cloud which brooded 
over me. “ Do you think, Victor,” said he, “ that I do 
not suffer also ? No one could love a child more than I 
loved your brother;” (tears came into his eyes as he 
spoke;) “ but is it not a duty to the survivors, that we 
should refrain from augmenting their unhappiness by an 
appearance of immoderate grief? It is also a duty owed to 
yourself ; for excessive sorrow prevents improvement or en¬ 
joyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without 
which no man is fit for society.” 

This advice, although good, was totally inapplicable to 
my case ; I should have been the first to hide my grief, 
and console my friends, if remorse had not mingled its bit¬ 
terness, and terror its alarm with my other sensations. Now 
I could only answ r er my father with a look of despair, and 
endeavour to hide myself from his view. 

About this time we retired to our house at Belrive. This 
change was particularly agreeable to me. The shutting of 
the gates regularly at ten o’clock, and the impossibility of 
remaining on the lake after that hour, had rendered our re¬ 
sidence within the walls of Geneva very irksome to me. I 
was now free. Often, after the rest of the family had re¬ 
tired for the night, I took the boat, and passed many hours 
upon the water. Sometimes, with my sails set, I was car¬ 
ried by the wind; and sometimes, after rowing into the 
middle of the lake, I left the boat to pursue its own course, 
and gave way to my own miserable reflections. I was often 
tempted, when all w r as at peace around me, and I the only 
unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful 
and heavenly — if I except some bat, or the frogs, whose 
harsh and interrupted croaking was heard only when I ap- 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


76 

proached the shore—often, I say, I was tempted to plunge 
into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me 
and my calamities for ever. But I was restrained, when I 
thought of - the heroic and suffering Elizabeth, whom I ten¬ 
derly loved, and whose existence was bound up in mine. 
I thought also of my father, and surviving brother : should 
I by my base desertion leave them exposed and unpro¬ 
tected to the malice of the fiend whom I had let loose 
among them ? 

At these moments I wept bitterly, and wished that peace 
would revisit my mind only that I might afford them con¬ 
solation and happiness. But that could not be. Remorse 
extinguished every hope. I had been the author of un¬ 
alterable evils; and I lived in daily fear, lest the monster 
whom I had created should perpetrate some new wicked¬ 
ness. I had an obscure feeling that all was not over, and 
that he would still commit some signal crime, which by its 
enormity should almost efface the recollection of the past. 
There was always scope for fear, so long as any thing I 
loved remained behind. My abhorrence of this fiend can¬ 
not be conceived. When I thought of him, I gnashed my 
teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to 
extinguish that life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed. 
When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and 
revenge burst all bounds of moderation. I would have 
made a pilgrimage to the highest peak of the Andes, could 
I, when there, have precipitated him to their base. I 
wished to see him again, that I might wreak the utmost 
extent of abhorrence on his head, and avenge the deaths of 
William and Justine. 

Our house was the house of mourning. My father’s 
health was deeply shaken by the horror of the recent 
events. Elizabeth was sad and desponding; she no longer 
took delight in her ordinary occupations; all pleasure seemed 
to her sacrilege toward the dead; eternal woe and tears 
she then thought was the just tribute she should pay to in¬ 
nocence so blasted and destroyed. She was no longer that 
happy creature, who in earlier youth wandered with me 
on the banks of the lake, and talked with ecstasv of our 
future prospects. The first of those sorrows which t:. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 77 

sent to wean us from the earth, had visited her, and its 
dimming influence quenched her dearest smiles. 

“ When I reflect, my dear cousin,” said she, “on the 
miserable death of Justine Moritz, I no longer see the 
world and its works as they before appeared to me. 4 Before, 
I looked upon the accounts of vice and injustice, that I 
read in books or heard from others, as tales of ancient days, 
or imaginary evils; at least they were remote, and more 
familiar to reason than to the imagination ; but now misery 
has come home, and men appear to me as monsters thirst¬ 
ing for each other’s blood. Yet I am certainly unjust. 
Every body believed that poor girl to be guilty ; and if she 
could have committed the crime for which she suffered, 
assuredly she would have been the most depraved of human 
creatures. For the sake of a few jewels, to have mur¬ 
dered the son of her benefactor and friend, a child whom 
she had nursed from its birth, and appeared to love as if it 
had been her own ! I could not consent to the death of any 
human being; but certainly I should have thought such a 
creature unfit to remain in the society of men. But she 
was innocent. I know, I feel she was innocent; you are of 
the same opinion, and that confirms me. Alas ! Victor, when 
falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure them¬ 
selves of certain happiness? I feel as if I vrere walking on 
the edge of a precipice, towards which thousands are 
crowding, and endeavouring to plunge me into the abyss. 
William and Justine were assassinated, and the murderer 
escapes; he walks about the world free, and perhaps re¬ 
spected. But even if I were condemned to suffer on the 
scaffold for the same crimes, I would not change places with 
such a wretch.” 

I listened to this discourse with the extremest agony. I, 
not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer. Eliza¬ 
beth read my anguish in my countenance, and kindly taking 
my hand, said, “ My dearest friend, you must calm your¬ 
self. These events have affected me, God knows how 
deeply; but I am not so wretched as you are. There is 
an expression of despair, and sometimes of revenge, in your 
countenance, that makes me tremble. Dear Victor, banish 
these dark passions. Remember the friends around you, 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


78 

who centre all their hopes in you. Have we lost the power 
of rendering you happy ? Ah ! while we love—while we 
are true to each other, here in this land of peace and 
beauty, your native country, we may reap every tranquil 
blessing,—what can disturb our peace?” 

And could not such words from her whom I fondly 
prized before every other gift of fortune, suffice to chase 
away the fiend that lurked in my heart? Even as she spoke 
I drew near to her, as if in terror; lest at that very moment 
the destroyer had been near to rob me of her. 

Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty cf 
earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe : the 
very accents of love were ineffectual. I was encompassed 
by a cloud which no beneficial influence could penetrate. 
The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some 
untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had 
pierced it, and to die—was but a type of me. 

Sometimes I could cope with the sullen despair that 
overwhelmed me: but sometimes the whirlwind passions 
of my soul drove me to seek, by bodily exercise and by 
change of place, some relief from my intolerable sensations. 
It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left 
my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine 
valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such 
scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, 
sorrows. My wanderings were directed towards the valley 
of Chamounix. I had visited it frequently during my boy¬ 
hood. Six years had passed since then : I was a wreck — 
but nought had changed in those savage and enduring 
scenes. 

I performed the first part of my journey on horseback. 
I afterwards hired a mule, as the more sure-footed, and 
least liable to receive injury on these rugged roads. The 
weather was fine : it was about the middle of the month of 
August, nearly two months after the death of Justine; that 
miserable epoch from which I dated all my wee. The 
weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged 
yet deeper in the ravine of Arve. The immense mountains 
and precipices that overhung me on every side—the sound 
of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


7 9 

waterfalls around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence 
—and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any being less almighty 
than that which had created and ruled the elements, here 
displayed in their most terrific guise. Still, as I ascended 
higher, the valley assumed a more magnificent and asto¬ 
nishing character. Ruined castles hanging on the pre¬ 
cipices of piny mountains; the impetuous Arve, and 
cottages every here and there peeping forth from among 
the trees, formed a scene of singular beautv. Rut it was 
augmented and rendered sublime by the mighty Alps, 
whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered 
above all, as belonging to another earth, the habitations of 
another race of beings. 

I passed the bridge of Pelissier, where the ravine, which 
the river forms, opened before me, and I began to ascend 
the mountain that overhangs it. Soon after I entered the 
valley of Chamounix. This valley is more wonderful and 
sublime, but not so beautiful and picturesque, as that of 
Servox, through which I had just passed. The high and 
snowy mountains were its immediate boundaries; but i saw 
no more ruined castles and fertile fields. Immense glaciers 
approached the road; I heard the rumbling thunder of the 
falling avalanche, and marked the smoke of its passage. 
Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, 
raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles , and its tre¬ 
mendous dome overlooked the valley. 

A tingling long-lost sense of pleasure often came across me 
during this journey. Some turn in the road, some new 
object suddenly perceived and recognised, reminded me of 
days gone by, and were associated with the light-hearted 
gaiety of boyhood. The very winds whispered in soothing 
accents, and maternal nature bade me weep no more. Then 
again the kindly influence ceased to act—I found myself 
fettered again to grief, and indulging in all the misery of 
reflection. Then I spurred on my animal, striving so to 
forget the world, my fears, and, more than all, myself —or, 
in a more desperate fashion, I alighted, and threw myself on 
the grass, weighed down by horror and despair. 

At length I arrived at the village of Chamounix. Ex¬ 
haustion succeeded to the extreme fatigue both of body and 




80 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


of mind which I had endured. For a short space of time I 
remained at the window, watching the pallid lightnings that 
played above Mont Blanc, and listening to the rushing of 
the Arve, which pursued its noisy w T ay beneath. The same 
lulling sounds acted as a lullaby to my too keen sensations : 
when I placed my head upon my pillow, sleep crept over 
me; 1 felt it as it came, and blest the giver of oblivion. 


CHAPTER X. 

I spent the following day roaming through the valley. I 
stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their 
rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down 
from the summit of the hills, to barricade the valley. The 
abrupt sides of vast mountains -were before me ; the icy 
w r all of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines 
were scattered around ; and the solemn silence of this glo¬ 
rious presence-chamber of imperial Nature was broken only 
by the brawling waves, or the fall of some vast fragment, 
the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking, rever¬ 
berated along the mountains of the accumulated ice, which, 
through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and 
anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their 
hands. These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded 
me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. 
They elevated me from all littleness of feeling; and although 
they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquil- 
lised it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind 
from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last 
month. I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it were, 
w'aited on and ministered to by the assemblance of grand 
shapes which I had contemplated during the day. They 
congregated round me; the unstained snowy mountain-top, 
the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, and ragged bare 
ravine; the eagle, soaring amidst the clouds — they all 
gathered round me, and bade me be at peace. 

Where had they fled when the next morning I aw r ok° ? 



V MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


81 


All of soul-inspiriting fled with sleep, and dark melancholy 
clouded every thought. The rain was pouring in torrents, 
.find thick mists hid the summits of the mountains, so that 
I even saw not the faces of those mighty friends. Still I 
would penetrate their misty veil, and seek them in their 
cloudy retreats. What were rain and storm to me ? My 
mule was brought to the door, and 1 resolved to ascend to 
the summit of Montanvert. . 1 remembered the effect that 
the view of the tremendous and ever-moving glacier had 
produced upon my mind when I first saw it. It had then 
filled me with a sublime ecstasy, that gave wings to the 
soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light 
and joy. The sight of the awful and majestic in nature had 
indeed always the effect of solemnising my mind, and 
causing me to forget the passing cares of life. I deter¬ 
mined to go without a guide, for I was well acquainted 
with the path, and the presence of another would destroy 
the solitary grandeur of the scene. 

The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into con¬ 
tinual and short windings, which enable you to surmount 
the perpendicularity of the mountain. It is a scene terri¬ 
fically desolate. In a thousand spots the traces of the 
winter avalanche may be perceived, where trees lie broken 
and strewed on the ground ; some entirely destroyed, 
others bent, leaning upon the jutting rocks of the mountain, 
or transversely upon other trees. The path, as you ascend 
higher, is intersected by ravines of snow, down which 
stones continually roll from above; one of them is parti¬ 
cularly dangerous, as the slightest sound, such as even 
speaking in a loud voice, produces a concussion of air suffi¬ 
cient to draw destruction upon the head of the speaker. 
The pines are not tall or luxuriant, but they are sombre, 
and add an air of severity to the scene. I looked on the 
valley beneath ; vast mists were rising from the rivers 
which ran through it, and curling in thick wreaths around 
the opposite mountains, whose summits were hid in the 
uniform clouds, while rain poured from the dark sky, and 
added to the melancholy impression I received from the 
objects around me. Alas ! why does man boast of sensi¬ 
bilities superior to those apparent in the brute ; it only 




82 FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 

renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were 
confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly 
free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and 
a chance word cr scene that that word may convey to us. 

We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep. 

We rise ; one wand’ring thought pollutes the day. 

We feel, conceive, or reason ; laugh or weep, 

Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away j 

It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow, 

The path of its departure still is free. 

Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow ; 

Nought may endure but mutability! 

It was nearly noon when I arrived at the top of the 
ascent. For some time I sat upon the rock that overlooks 
the sea of ice. A mist covered both that and the sur¬ 
rounding mountains. Presently a breeze dissipated the 
cloud, and I descended upon the glacier. The surface is 
very uneven, rising like the waves of a troubled sea, des¬ 
cending low, and interspersed by rifts that sink deep. The 
field of ice is almost a league in width, but I spent nearly 
two hours in crossing it. The opposite mountain is a bare 
perpendicular rock. From the side where I now stood 
Montanvert was exactly opposite, at the distance of a league; 
and above it rose Mont Blanc, in awful majesty. I re¬ 
mained in a recess of the rock, gazing on this wonderful and 
stupendous scene. The sea, or rather the vast river of 
ice, wound among its dependent mountains, whose aerial 
summits hung over its recesses. Their icy and glittering 
peaks shone in the sunlight over the clouds. My heart, 
which was before sorrowful, now swelled with something 
like joy; I exclaimed — “ Wandering spirits, if indeed ye 
wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me 
this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away 
from the joys of life.” 

As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at 
some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman 
speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among; 
which I had walked with caution; his stature, also, as he 
approached, seemed to exceed that of man. I was troubled: 
a mist came over my eyes, and I felt a faintness seize me; 
but I was quickly restored by the cold gale of the-mountains. 
I perceived, as the shape came nearer (sight tremendous and 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


83 


abhorred!) that it was the wretch whom I had created. I 
trembled with rage and horror, resolving to wait his ap¬ 
proach, and then close with him in mortal combat. He 
approached; his countenance bespoke bitter anguish, com¬ 
bined with disdain and malignity, while its unearthly ug¬ 
liness rendered it almost too horrible for human eyes. But 
I scarcely observed this; rage and hatred had at first de¬ 
prived me of utterance, and I recovered only to overwhelm 
him with words expressive of furious detestation and con¬ 
tempt. 

“ Devil,” I exclaimed, “ do you dare approach me ? and 
do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on 
your miserable head ? Begone, vile insect! or rather, stay, 
that I may trample you to dust! and, oh ! that I could, 
with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those 
victims whom you have so diabolically murdered ! ” 

“ I expected this reception,” said the daemon. All 
men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who 
am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my 
creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou 
art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one 
of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus 
with life ? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine 
towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply 
with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; 
but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be 
satiated with the blood of your remaining friends.” 

“ Abhorred monster ! fiend that thou art! the tortures 
of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched 
devil! you reproach me with your creation ; come on, then, 
that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently 
bestowed.” 

My rage was without bounds; I sprang on him, im¬ 
pelled by all the feelings which can arm one being against 
the existence of another. 

He easily eluded me, and said— 

Be calm ! I entreat you to hear me, before you give 
vent to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suf¬ 
fered enough, that you seek to increase my misery ? Life, 
although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear 

g 2 


B 


84 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast made 
me more powerful than thyself; my height is superior to 
thine ; my joints more supple. But I w r ill not be tempted 
to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and 
I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, 
if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which thou owest 
me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other, 
and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even 
thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember, that 
I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am 
rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no 
misdeed. Every where I see bliss, from which I alone 
am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good ; 
misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall 
again be virtuous.” 

“ Begone ! I will not hear you. There can be no com¬ 
munity between you and me ; we are enemies. Begone, 
or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must 
fall.” 

“ How can 1 move thee ? Will no entreaties cause thee 
to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores 
thy goodness and compassion ? Believe me, Frankenstein: 
I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity: 
but am I not alone, miserably alone? You, my creator, 
abhor me ; what hope can I gather from your fellow- 
creatures, who owe me nothing ? they spurn and hate me. 
The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge 
1 have wandered here many days ; the caves of ice, which 
1 only do not fear, are a dwelling to me, and the only one 
which man does not grudge. These bleak skies I hail, for 
they are kinder to me than your fellow-beings. If the 
multitude of mankind knew of my existence, they would do 
as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction. Shall 
I not then hate them who abhor me ? I will keep no terms 
with my enemies. I am miserable, and they shall share 
my wretchedness. Yet it is in your power to recompense 
me, and deliver them from an evil which it only remains for 
you to make so great, that not only you and your family, 
but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up in the whirl¬ 
winds of its rage. Let your compassion be moved, and do 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


85 


not disdain me. Listen to my tale: when you have heard 
that, abandon or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I 
deserve. But hear me. The guilty are allowed, by human 
laws, bloody as they are, to speak in their own defence 
before they are condemned. Listen to me, Frankenstein. 
You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a sa¬ 
tisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. Oh, praise 
the eternal justice of man ! Yet I ask you not to spare me: 
listen to me; and then, if you can, and if you will, destroy 
the work of your hands.” 

“ Why do you call to my remembrance,” I rejoined, 
“ circumstances, of which I shudder to reflect, that I have 
been the miserable origin and author ? Cursed be the day, 
abhorred devil, in which you first saw light ! Cursed 
(although I curse myself) be the hands that formed you ! 
You have made me wretched beyond expression. You 
have left me no power to consider whether I am just to 
you, or not. Begone ! relieve me from the sight of your 
detested form.” 

“ Thus I relieve thee, my creator,” he said, and placed 
his hated hands before my eyes, which I flung from me with 
violence; “ thus I take from thee a sight which you abhor. 
Still thou canst listen to me, and grant me thy compassion. 
By the virtues that I once possessed, I demand this from 
you. Hear my tale ; it is long and strange, and the tem¬ 
perature of this place is not fitting to your fine sensations; 
come to the hut upon the mountain. The sun is yet high 
in the heavens ; before it descends to hide itself behind yon 
snowy precipices, and illuminate another world, you will 
have heard my story, and can decide. On you it rests, 
whether I quit for ever the neighbourhood of man, and lead 
a harmless life, or become the scourge of your fellow- 
creatures, and the author of your own speedy ruin.” 

As he said this, he led the way across the ice : I fol¬ 
lowed. My heart was full, and I did not answer him; but/ 
as I proceeded, I weighed the various arguments that he 
had used, and determined at least to listen to his tale. I 
was partly urged by curiosity, and compassion confirmed 
my resolution. I had hitherto supposed him to be the 
~urderer of my brother, and I eagerly sought a confirm- 

c 3 


86 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


ation or denial of this opinion. For the first time, also, I 
felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were, 
and that I ought to render him happy before I complained 
of his wickedness. These motives urged me to comply 
with his demand. We crossed the ice, therefore, and as¬ 
cended the opposite rock. The air was cold, and the rain 
again began to descend : we entered the hut, the fiend with 
an air of exultation, I with a heavy heart, and depressed 
spirits. But I consented to listen ; and, seating myself by 
the fire which my odious companion had lighted, he thus 
began his tale. 


CHAPTER XI. 

“ It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the 
original era of my being: all the events of that period ap¬ 
pear confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of 
sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt, at 
the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I 
learned to distinguish between the operations of my various 
senses. By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed 
upon my nerves, so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. 
Darkness then came over me, and troubled me; but hardly 
had I felt this, when, by opening my eyes, as I now sup¬ 
pose, the light poured in upon me again. I walked, and, 
I believe, descended ; but I presently found a great alter¬ 
ation in my sensations. Before, dark and opaque bodies 
had surrounded me, impervious to my touch or sight; but 
I now found that I could wander on at liberty, with no 
obstacles which I could not either surmount or avoid. The 
iiglit became more and more oppressive to me; and, the 
neat wearying me as I walked, I sought a place where I 
could receive shade. This was the forest near Ingolstadt; 
and here I lay by the side of a brook resting from my 
fatigue, until I felt tormented by hunger and thirst. This 
roused me from my nearly dormant state, and I ate some 
berries which I found hanging on the trees, or lying on the 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


87 


ground. I slaked my thirst at the brook; and then lying 
down, was overcome by sleep. 

“ It was dark when I awoke; I felt cold also, and half- 
frightened, as it were instinctively, finding myself so de¬ 
solate. Before I had quitted your apartment, on a sensation 
of cold, I had covered myself with some clothes ; but these 
were insufficient to secure me from the dews of night. I 
was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch ; I knew, and could 
distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all 
sides, I sat down and wept. 

“ Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens, and gave 
me a sensation of pleasure. I started up, and beheld a 
radiant form rise from among the trees.* I gazed with a 
kind of wonder. It moved slowly, but it enlightened my 
path ; and I again went out in search of berries. I was 
still cold, when under one of the trees I found a huge cloak, 
with which I covered myself, and sat down upon the 
ground. No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was 
confused. I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and dark¬ 
ness ; innumerable sounds rung in my ears, and on all sides 
various scents saluted me : the only object that I could 
distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on 
that with pleasure. 

Several changes of day and night passed, and the orb 
of night had greatly lessened, when I began to distinguish 
my sensations from each other. I gradually saw plainly 
the clear stream that supplied me with drink, and the trees 
that shaded me with their foliage. I was delighted when 
I first discovered that a pleasant sound, which often saluted 
my ears, proceeded from the throats of the little winged 
animals who had often intercepted the light frqm my eyes. 

I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the forms 
that surrounded me, and to perceive the boundaries of the 
radiant roof of light which canopied me. Sometimes I tried 
to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds, but was unable. 
Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own 
mode, but the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke 
from me frightened me into silence again. 

“ The moon had disappeared from the night, and again, 

* The moon. 

G 4 


88 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

with a lessened form, showed itself, "while I still remained 
in the forest. My sensations had, by this time, become 
distinct, and my mind received every day additional ideas. 
My eyes became accustomed to the light, and to perceive 
objects in their right forms ; I distinguished the insect 
from the herb, and, by degrees, one herb from another. I 
found that the sparrow uttered none but harsh notes, whilst 
those of the blackbird and thrush were sweet and enticing. 

“ One day, when I was oppressed by cold, I found a fire 
which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was 
overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from 
it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but 
quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How r strange, 
I thought, that the same cause should produce such op¬ 
posite effects! I examined the materials of the fire, and 
to my joy found it to be composed of wood. I quickly 
collected some branches; but they were wet, and would not 
burn. I was pained at this, and sat still watching the 
operation of the fire. The wet "wood which I had placed 
near the heat dried, and itself became inflamed. I reflected 
on this ; and, by touching the various branches, I disco¬ 
vered the cause, and busied myself in collecting a great 
quantity of wood, that I might dry it, and have a plentiful 
supply of fire. When night came on, and brought sleep 
with it, I was in the greatest fear lest my fire should be 
extinguished. I covered it carefully with dry wood and 
leaves, and placed wet branches upon it; and then, spread¬ 
ing my cloak, I lay on the ground, and sunk into sleep. 

“ It was morning when I awoke, and my first care was 
to visit the fire. 1 uncovered it, and a gentle breeze 
quickly fanned it into a flame. I observed this also, and 
contrived a fan of branches, which roused the embers when 
they were nearly extinguished. When night came again, 
I found, with pleasure, that the fire gave light as well as 
heat ; and that the discovery of this element was useful to 
me in my food; for I found some of the offals that the 
travellers had left had been roasted, and tasted much more 
savoury than the berries 1 gathered from the trees. I 
tried, therefore, to dress my food in the same manner, 
placing it on the live embers. I found that the berries 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. SQ 

were spoiled by this operation, and the nuts and roots much 
improved. 

Food, however, became scarce; and I often spent the 
whole day searching in vain for a few acorns to assuage the 
pangs of hunger. When I found this, I resolved to quit 
the place that I had hitherto inhabited, to seek for one 
where the few wants I experienced would be more easily 
satisfied. In this emigration, I exceedingly lamented the 
loss of the fire which I had obtained through accident, and 
knew not how to reproduce it. I gave several hours to 
the serious consideration of this difficulty; but I was 
obliged to relinquish all attempt to supply it; and, wrap¬ 
ping myself up in my cloak, I struck across the wood 
towards the setting sun. I passed three days in these 
rambles, and at length discovered the open country. A 
great fall of snow had taken place the night before, and 
the fields were of one uniform white; the appearance was 
disconsolate, and I found my feet chilled by the cold damp 
substance that covered the ground. 

“ It was about seven in the morning, and I longed to 
obtain food and shelter; at length I perceived a small hut, 
on a rising ground, which had doubtless been built for the 
convenience of some shepherd. This was a new sight to 
me; and I examined the structure with great curiosity. 
Finding the door open, I entered. An old man sat in it, 
near a fire, over which he was preparing his breakfast. 
He turned on hearing a noise ; and, perceiving me, shrieked 
loudly, and, quitting the hut, ran across the fields with a 
speed of which his debilitated form hardly appeared capable. 
His appearance, different from any I had ever before seen, 
and his flight, somewhat surprised me. But I was enchanted 
by the appearance of the hut: here the snow and rain could 
not penetrate; the ground was dry; and it presented to 
me then as exquisite and divine a retreat as Pandemonium 
appeared to the daemons of hell after their sufferings in the 
lake of fire. I greedily devoured the remnants of the shep¬ 
herd’s breakfast, which consisted of bread, cheese, milk, and 
wine; the latter, however, I did not like. Then, overcome by 
fatigue, I lay down among some straw, and fell asleep. 

(e It was noon when I awoke; and, allured by the 


90 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


warmth of the sun, which shone brightly on the white 
ground, I determined to recommence my travels ; and, 
depositing the remains of the peasant's breakfast in a 
wallet I found, I proceeded across the fields for several 
hours, until at sunset I arrived at a village. How mira¬ 
culous did this appear ! the huts, the neater cottages, and 
stately houses, engaged my admiration by turns. The 
vegetables in the gardens, the milk and cheese that I saw 
placed at the windows of some of the cottages, allured my 
appetite. One of the best of these I entered; but I had 
hardly placed my foot within the door, before the children 
shrieked, and one of 'the women fainted. The whole vil¬ 
lage was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, 
grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of mis¬ 
sile weapons, I escaped to the open country, and fearfully* 
took refuge in a low hovel, quite bare, and making a 
wretched appearance after the palaces I had beheld in the 
village. This hovel, however, joined a cottage of a neat 
and pleasant appearance; but, after my late dearly bought 
experience, I dared not enter it. My place of refuge was 
constructed of wood, but so low, that I could with diffi¬ 
culty sit upright in it. No wood, however, was placed on 
the earth, which formed the floor, but it was dry; and 
although the wind entered it by innumerable chinks, I found 
it an agreeable asylum from the snow and rain. 

“ Here then I retreated, and lay down happy to have 
found a shelter, however miserable, from the inclemency 
of the season, and still more from the barbarity of man. 

ee As soon as morning dawned, I crept from my kennel, 
that I might view the adjacent cottage, and discover if I 
could remain in the habitation I had found. It was 
situated against the back of the cottage, and surrounded on 
the sides which were exposed by a pig-sty and a clear pool 
of water. One part was open, and by that I had crept in ; 
but now I covered every crevice by which I might be per¬ 
ceived with stones and wood, yet in such a manner that I 
might move them on occasion to pass out: all the light I 
enjoyed came through the sty, and that was sufficient for me, 
“ Having thus arranged my dwelling, and carpeted it 
with clean straw, I retired; for I saw the figure of a man 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS 91 

at a distance, and I remembered too well my treatment the 
night before, to trust myself in his power. I had first, 
however, provided for my sustenance for that day, by a loaf 
of coarse bread, which I purloined, and a cup with which 
I could drink, more conveniently than from my hand, of 
the pure water which flowed by my retreat. The floor was 
a little raised, so that it was kept perfectly dry, and by its 
vicinity to the chimney of the cottage it was tolerably warm. 

Being thus provided, I resolved to reside in this hovel, 
until something should occur which might alter my deter¬ 
mination. It was indeed a paradise, compared to the 
bleak forest, my former residente, the rain-dropping 
branches, and dank earth. I ate my breakfast with plea¬ 
sure, and was about to remove a plank to procure myself 
m a little water, when I heard a step, and looking through 
a small chink, I beheld a young creature, with a pail on her 
head, passing before my hovel. The girl was young, and 
of gentle demeanour, unlike what I have since found cot¬ 
tagers and farm-house servant? to be. Yet she was meanly 
dressed, a coarse blue petticoat and a linen jacket being 
her only garb ; her fair hair was plaited, but not adorned: 
she looked patient, yet sad. I lost sight of her ; and in 
about a quarter of an hour she returned, bearing the pail, 
which was now partly filled with milk. As she walked 
along, seemingly incommoded by the burden, a young man 
met her, whose countenance expressed a deeper despond¬ 
ence. Uttering a few sounds with an air of melancholy 
he took the pail from her head, and bore it to the cottage 
himself. She followed, and they disappeared. Presently I 
saw the young man again, with some tools in his hand, 
cross the field behind the cottage ; and the girl was also 
busied, sometimes in the house, and sometimes in the yard. 

“ On examining my dwelling, I found that one of the 
windows of the cottage had formerly occupied a part of it, 
but the panes had been filled up with wood. In one of 
these was a small and almost imperceptible chink, through 
which the eye could just penetrate. Through this crevice 
a small room was visible, whitewashed and clean, but very 
bare of furniture. In one corner, near a small fire, sat an 
old man, leaning his head on his hands in a disconsolate 


m 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 

attitude. The young girl was occupied in arranging the 
cottage; but presently she took something out of a drawer, 
which employed her hands, and she sat down beside the old 
man, who, taking up an instrument, began to play, and to 
produce sounds sweeter than the voice of the thrush or the 
nightingale. It was a lovely sight, even to me, poor wretch ! 
who had never beheld aught beautiful before. The silver 
hair and benevolent countenance of the aged cottager won 
my reverence, while the gentle manners of the girl enticed 
my love. He played a sweet mournful air, which I per¬ 
ceived drew tears from the eyes of his amiable companion, 
of which the old man took no notice, until she sobbed 
audibly ; he then pronounced a few sounds, and the fair 
creature, leaving her work, knelt at his feet. He raised 
her, and smiled with such kindness and affection, that I 
felt sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature : they 
were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never 
before experienced, either from hunger or cold, warmth or 
food; and I withdrew from the window, unable to bear 
these emotions. 

“ Soon after this the young man returned, bearing on 
his shoulders a load of wood. The girl met him at the 
door, helped to relieve him of his burden, and, taking some 
of the fuel into the cottage, placed it on the fire ; then she 
and the youth went apart into a nook of the cottage, and he 
showed her a large loaf and piece of cheese. She seemed 
pleased, and went into the garden for some roots and plants, 
which she placed in water, and then upon the fire. She 
afterwards continued her work, whilst the young man went 
into the garden, and appeared busily employed in digging 
and pulling up roots. After he had been employed thus 
about an hour, the young woman joined him, and they 
entered the cottage together. 

“ The old man had, in the mean time, been pensive; but, 
on the appearance of his companions, he assumed a more 
cheerful air, and they sat down to eat. The meal was 
quickly despatched. The young woman was again occupied 
in arranging the cottage; the old man walked before the 
cottage in the sun for a few minutes, leaning on the arm of 
the youth. Nothing could exceed in beauty the contrast 


' THE 3J0DERN PROMETHEUS. Q3 

between these two excellent creatures. One was old, with 
silver hairs and a countenance beaming with benevolence 
and love: the younger was slight and graceful in his figure, 
and his features were moulded with the finest symmetry; 
yet his eyes and attitude expressed the utmost sadness and 
despondency. The old man returned to the cottage; and 
the youth, with tools different from those he had used in 
the morning, directed his steps across the fields. 

“ Night quickly shut in ; but, to my extreme wonder, I 
found that the cottagers had a means of prolonging light by 
the use of tapers, and was delighted to find that the setting 
of the sun did not put an end to the pleasure I experienced 
in watching my human neighbours. In the evening, the 
young girl and her companion were employed in various 
occupations which I did not understand; and the old man 
again took up the instrument which produced the divine 
sounds that had enchanted me in the morning. So soon as 
he had finished, the youth began, not to play, but to utter 
sounds that were monotonous, and neither resembling the 
harmony of the old man’s instrument nor the songs of the 
birds: I since found that he read aloud, but at that time I 
knew nothing of the science of words or letters. 

“ The family, after having been thus occupied for a 
short time, extinguished their lights, and retired, as I con¬ 
jectured, to rest. 


CHAPTER XII. 

I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought Oi 
the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me w r as 
the gentle manners of these people; and I longed to join 
them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment 
I bad suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, 
and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter 
think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain 
quietly in my hovel, watching, and endeavouring to discover 
the motives which influenced their actions. 

The cottajrers arose the next morning before the sun, 



FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


94 

The young woman arranged the cottage, and prepared the 
food; and the youth departed after the first meal. 

“ This day was passed in the same routine as that which 
preceded it. The young man was constantly employed 
out of doors, and the girl in various laborious occupations 
within. The old man, whom I soon perceived to be blind, 
employed his leisure hours on his instrument or in con¬ 
templation. Nothing could exceed the love and respect 
which the younger cottagers exhibited towards their vene¬ 
rable companion. They performed towards him every 
little office of affection and duty with gentleness; and he 
rewarded them by his benevolent smiles. 

“ They were not entirely happy. The young man and 
his companion often went apart, and appeared to weep. I 
saw no cause for their unhappiness; but I was deeply 
affected by it. If such lovely creatures were miserable, it 
was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, 
should be wretched. Yet why were these gentle beings 
unhappy ? They possessed a delightful house (for such it 
was in my eyes) and every luxury ; they had a fire to warm 
them when chill, and delicious viands when hungry; they 
were dressed in excellent clothes : and, still more, they en¬ 
joyed one another’s company and speech, interchanging 
each day looks of affection and kindness. What did their 
tears imply? Did they really express pain? I was at first 
unable to solve these questions ; but perpetual attention and 
time explained to me many appearances which were at first 
enigmatic. 

C( A considerable period elapsed before I discovered one 
of the causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family: it 
was poverty; and they suffered that evil in a very distressing 
degree. Their nourishment consisted entirely of the vege¬ 
tables of their garden, and the milk of one cow, which gave 
very little during the winter, when its masters could scarcely 
procure food to support it. They often, I believe, suffered 
the pangs of hunger very poignantly, especially the two 
younger cottagers; for several times they placed food before 
the old man, when they reserved none for themselves. 

“ This trait of kindness moved me sensibly. I had been 
accustomed, during the night, to steal a part of their store 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


95 


for my own consumption; but when I found that in doing 
this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained, and satis¬ 
fied myself with berries, nuts, and roots, which I gathered 
from a neighbouring wood. 

“ I discovered also another means through which I was 
enabled to assist their labours. I found that the youth 
spent a great part of each day in collecting wood for the 
family fire; and, during the night, I often took his tools, 
the use of which I quickly discovered, and brought home 
firing sufficient for the consumption of several days. 

“ I remember, the first time that I did this, the young 
woman, when she opened the door in the morning, appeared 
greatly astonished on seeing a great pile of wood on the 
outside. She uttered some words in a loud voice, and the 
youth joined her, who also expressed surprise. I observed, 
with pleasure, that he did not go to the forest that day, but 
spent it in repairing the cottage, and cultivating the garden. 

By degrees I made a discovery of still greater moment. 
I found that these people possessed a method of commu¬ 
nicating their experience and feelings to one another by 
articulate sounds. I perceived that the words they spoke 
sometimes, produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in 
the minds and countenances of the hearers. This was in¬ 
deed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become 
acquainted with it. But I was baffled in every attempt I 
made for this purpose. Their pronunciation was quick ; 
and the words they uttered, not having any apparent con¬ 
nection with visible objects, I was unable to discover any 
clue by which I could unravel the mystery of their refer¬ 
ence. . By great application, however, and after having re¬ 
mained during the space of several revolutions of the moon 
in my hovel, I discovered the names that were given to 
some of the most familiar objects of discourse ; I learned 
and applied the words, fire, milk, bread, and mood. I 
learned also the names of the cottagers themselves. The 
youth and his companion had each of them several names, 
but the old man had only one, which was father. The 
girl was called sister, or Agatha ; and the youth Felix, bro¬ 
ther, or son. I cannot describe the delight I felt when I 
learned the ideas appropriated to each of these sounds, and 


FRANKENSTEIN OR, 


£6 

was able to pronounce them. I distinguished several other 
Words, without being able as yet to understand or apply 
them ; such as good , dearest, unhappy. 

“ I spent the winter in this manner. The gentle man¬ 
ners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to 
me: -when they were unhappy, I felt depressed ; when 
they rejoiced, I sympathised in their joys. I saw few hu¬ 
man beings beside them; and if any other happened to 
enter the cottage, their harsh manners and rude gait only 
enhanced to me the superior accomplishments of my friends. 
The old man, I could perceive, often endeavoured to en¬ 
courage his children, as sometimes I found that he called 
them, to cast off their melancholy. He would talk in a 
cheerful accent, with an expression of goodness that be¬ 
stowed pleasure even upon me. Agatha listened with 
respect, her eyes sometimes filled with tears, which she 
endeavoured to wipe away unperceived; but I generally 
found that her countenance and tone were more cheerful 
after having listened to the exhortations of her father. It 
was not thus with Felix. He was always the saddest of 
the group; and, even to my unpractised senses, he ap¬ 
peared to have suffered more deeply than his friends. But 
if his countenance was more sorrowful, his voice was more 
cheerful than that of his sister, especially when he addressed 
the old man. 

“ I could mention innumerable instances, which, al¬ 
though slight, marked the dispositions of these amiable 
cottagers. In the midst of poverty and want, Felix carried 
with pleasure to his sister the first little white flower that 
peeped out from beneath the snowy ground. Early in the 
morning, before she had risen, he cleared away the snow that 
obstructed her path to the milk-house, drew water from the 
well, and brought the wood from the out-house, where, to 
his perpetual astonishment, he found his store always re¬ 
plenished by an invisible hand. In the day, I believe, he 
worked sometimes for a neighbouring farmer, because he 
often went forth, and did not return until dinner, yet 
brought no wood with him. At other times he worked in 
the garden ; but, as there was little to do in the frosty sea¬ 
son, he read to the old man and Agatha. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 97 

,f This reading had puzzled me extremely at first; but, 
by degrees, I discovered that he uttered many of the same 
sounds when he read, as when he talked. I conjectured, 
therefore, that he found on the paper signs for speech which 
he understood, and I ardently longed to comprehend these 
also; but how was that possible, when I did not even un¬ 
derstand the sounds for which they stood as signs ? I im¬ 
proved, however, sensibly in this science, but not sufficiently 
to follow up any kind of conversation, although I applied 
my whole mind to the endeavour: for I easily perceived 
that, although I eagerly longed to discover myself to the 
cottagers, I ought not to make the attempt until I had first 
become master of their language; which knowledge might 
enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my 
figure ; for with this also the contrast perpetually presented 
to my eyes had made me acquainted. 

“ I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers — 
their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions : but how was 
I terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! 
At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed 
I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became 
fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I 
am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence 
and mortification. Alas ! I did not yet entirely know the 
fatal effects of this miserable deformity. 

tc As the sun became warmer, and the light of day longer, 
the snow vanished, and I beheld the bare trees and the 
black earth. From this time Felix was more employed; 
and the heart-moving indications of impending famine dis¬ 
appeared. Their food, as I afterwards found, was coarse, 
but it was wholesome ; and they procured a sufficiency of 
it. Several new kinds of plants sprung up in the garden, 
which they dressed ; and these signs of comfort increased 
daily as the season advanced. 

“ Hie old man, leaning on his son, walked each day at 
noon, when it did not rain, as I found it was called when 
the heavens poured forth its waters. This frequently took 
place ; but a high wind quickly dried the earth, and the 
season became far more pleasant than it had been. 

“ My mode of life in my hovel was uniform. During 

H 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


98 

tlie morning, I attended the motions of the cottagers; and 
when they were dispersed in various occupations, I slept: 
the remainder of the day was spent in observing my friends. 
When they had retired to rest, if there was any moon, or 
the night was star-light, I went into the woods, and collected 
my own food and fuel for the cottage. When I returned, 
as often as it was necessary, I cleared their path from the 
snow, and performed those offices that I had seen done by 
Felix. I afterwards found that these labours, performed 
by an invisible hand, greatly astonished them; and once or 
twice I heard them, on these occasions, utter the words 
good spirit, wonderful; but I did not then understand the 
signification of these terms. 

ee My thoughts now became more active, and I longed to 
discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures; 
1 was inquisitive to know why Felix appeared so miserable, 
and Agatha so sad. I thought (foolish wretch!) that it 
might be in my power to restore happiness to these deserv¬ 
ing people. When I slept, or was absent, the forms of the 
venerable blind father, the gentle Agatha, and the excellent 
Felix, flitted before me. I looked upon them as superior 
beings, who would be the arbiters of my future destiny. I 
formed in my imagination a thousand pictures of presenting 
myself to them, and their reception of me. I imagined 
that they would be disgusted, until, by my gentle demeanour 
and conciliating words, I should first win their favour, and 
afterwards their love. 

“ These thoughts exhilarated me, and led me to apply 
with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language. 
My organs were indeed harsh, but supple ; and although 
my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet 
I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable 
ease. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the 
gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his 
manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows 
and execration. 

“ The pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring 
greatly altered the aspect of the earth. Men, who before 
this change seemed to have been hid in caves, dispersed 
themselves, and were employed in various arts of cultiva- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


99 

tion. The birds sang in more cheerful notes, and the 
leaves began to bud forth on the trees. Happy, happy 
earth ! fit habitation for gods, which, so short a time before, 
was bleak, damp, and unwholesome. My spirits were ele¬ 
vated by the enchanting appearance of nature ; the past 
was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and 
the future gilded by bright rays of hope, and anticipations 
of joy. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

“ I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I 
shall relate events, that impressed me with feelings which, 
from what I had been, have made me what I am. 

“ Spring advanced rapidly; the weather became fine, 
and the skies cloudless. It surprised me, that what before 
was desert and gloomy should now bloom with the most 
beautiful flowers and verdure. My senses were gratified 
and refreshed by a thousand scents of delight, and a thou¬ 
sand sights of beauty. 

It was on one of these days, when my cottagers period¬ 
ically rested from labour — the old man played on his 
guitar, and Uhe children listened to him — that I observed 
the countenance of Felix was melancholy beyond expres¬ 
sion ; he sighed frequently ; and once his father paused in 
his music, and I conjectured by his manner that he en¬ 
quired the cause of his son’s sorrow. Felix replied in a 
cheerful accent, and the old man was recommencing his 
music, when some one tapped at the door. 

“ It was a lady on horseback, accompanied by a coun¬ 
tryman as a guide. The lady was dressed in a dark suit, 
and covered with a thick black veil. Agatha asked a ques¬ 
tion ; to which the stranger only replied by pronouncing, in 
a sweet accent, the name of Felix. Her voice was musical, 
but unlike that of either of my friends. On hearing this 
word, Felix came up hastily to the lady; who, when she 
saw him, threw up her veil, and I beheld a countenance of 
auutlir beauty and expression. Her hair of a shining 

h 2 



FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


100 

raven black, and curiously braided; her eyes were dark, 
but gentle, although animated; her features of a regular 
proportion, and her complexion wondrously fair, each cheek 
tinged with a lovely pink. 

(e Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her, 
every trait of sorrow vanished from his face, and it in¬ 
stantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy, of which I could 
hardly have believed it capable; his eyes sparkled, as his 
cheek flushed with pleasure ; and at that moment I thought 
him as beautiful as the stranger. She appeared affected by 
different feelings; wiping a few tears from her lovely eyes, 
she held out her hand to Felix, who kissed it rapturously, 
and called her, as well as I could distinguish, his sweet 
Arabian. She did not appear to understand him, but 
smiled. He assisted her to dismount, and dismissing her 
guide, conducted her into the cottage. Some conversation 
took place between him and his father; and the young 
stranger knelt at the old man’s feet, and would have kissed 
his hand, but he raised her, and embraced her affectionately. 

“ I soon perceived, that although the stranger uttered 
articulate sounds, and appeared to have a language of her 
own, she was neither understood by, nor herself understood, 
the cottagers. They made many signs which I did not 
comprehend; but I saw that her presence diffused gladness 
through the cottage, dispelling their sorrow as the sun dissi¬ 
pates the morning mists. Felix seemed peculiarly happy, 
and with smiles of delight welcomed his Arabian. Agatha, 
the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the hands of the lovely stran¬ 
ger ; and, pointing to her brother, made signs which ap¬ 
peared to me to mean that he had been sorrowful until she 
came. Some hours passed thus, while they, by their coun¬ 
tenances, expressed joy, the cause of which I did not com¬ 
prehend. Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence 
of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that 
she was endeavouring to learn their language ; and the idea 
instantly occurred to me, that I should make use of the 
same instructions to the same end. The stranger learned 
about twenty words at the first lesson, most of them, indeed, 
were those which I had before understood, but I profited by 
tne others. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. i01 

ce As night came on, Agatha and the Arabian retired 
early. When they separated, Felix kissed the hand of the 
stranger, and said, f Good night, sweet Safie/ He sat up 
much longer, conversing with his father ; and, hy the fre¬ 
quent repetition of her name, I conjectured that their lovely 
guest was the subject of their conversation. I ardently 
desired to understand them, and bent every faculty towards 
that purpose, but found it utterly impossible. 

“ The next morning Felix went out to his work; and, 
after the usual occupations of Agatha were finished, the 
Arabian sat at the feet of the old man, and, taking his 
guitar, played some airs so entrancingly beautiful, that they 
at once drew tears of sorrow and delight from my eyes. 
She sang, and her voice flowed in a rich cadence, swelling 
or dying away, like a nightingale of the woods. 

“ When she had finished, she gave the guitar to Agatha, 
who at first declined it. She played a simple air, and her 
voice accompanied it in sweet accents, but unlike the won¬ 
drous strain of the stranger. The old man appeared en¬ 
raptured, and said some words, which Agatha endeavoured 
to explain to Safie, and by which he appeared to wish to 
express that she bestowed on him the greatest delight by 
her music. 

“ The days now passed as peaceably as before, with the 
sole alteration, that joy had taken place of sadness in the 
countenances of my friends. Safie was always gay and 
happy; she and I improved rapidly in the knowledge of 
language, so that in two months I began to comprehend 
most of the words uttered by my protectors. 

“ In the meanwhile also the black ground was covered 
with herbage, and the green banks interspersed with innu¬ 
merable flowers, sweet to the scent and the eyes, stars of 
pale radiance among the moonlight woods ; the sun became 
warmer, the nights clear and balmy ; and my nocturnal 
rambles were an extreme pleasure to me, although they 
were considerably shortened by the late setting and early 
rising of the sun; for I never ventured abroad during day¬ 
light, fearful of meeting with the same treatment I had 
formerly endured in the first village which I entered. 

(t My days were spent in close attention, that I might 

h 3 


102 


FRANKENSTEIN; OR, 


more speedily master the language; and I may boast that 
I improved more rapidly than the Arabian, who under¬ 
stood very little, and conversed in broken accents, whilst I 
comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was 
spoken. 

“ While I improved in speech, I also learned the science 
of letters, as it was taught to the stranger; and this opened 
before me a wide field for wonder and delight. 

t( The book from which Felix instructed Safie was Volney’s 
{ Ruins of Empires/ I should not have understood the 
purport of this book, had not Felix, in reading it, given 
very minute explanations. He had chosen this work, he 
said, because the declamatory style was framed in imitation 
of the eastern authors. Through this work I obtained a 
cursory knowledge of history, and a view of the several 
empires at present existing in the world; it gave me an 
insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the 
different nations of the earth. I heard of the slothful 
Asiatics; of the stupendous genius and mental activity of 
the Grecians; of the wars and wonderful virtue of the 
early Romans—of their subsequent degenerating—of the 
decline of that mighty empire; of chivalry, Christianity, 
and kings. I heard of the discovery of the American he¬ 
misphere, and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its 
original inhabitants. 

“ These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange 
feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so vir¬ 
tuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base ? He ap¬ 
peared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle, and at 
another, as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike. 
To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour 
that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as 
many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation, 
a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or 
"harmless worm. For a long time I could not conceive 
Cow one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even 
why there were laws and governments; but when I heard 
details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I 
turned away with disgust and loathing. 

Every conversation of the cottagers now opened new 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


103 


Wonders to me. While I listened to the instructions which 
Felix bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of 
human society w r as explained to me. I heard of the division 
of property, of immense wealth and squalid poverty ; of 
rank, descent, and noble blood. 

“ The words induced me to turn towards myself. I 
learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow'- 
creatures "were, high and unsullied descent united with 
riches. A man might be respected with only one of these 
advantages; but, without either, he w r as considered, ex¬ 
cept in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, 
doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! 
And what was I ? Of my creation and creator I was ab¬ 
solutely ignorant; but I knew that I possessed no money, 
no friends, no kind of property. I w r as, besides, endued 
with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I w-as 
not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than 
they, and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the ex¬ 
tremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my 
stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around, I 
saw and heard of none like me. Was I then a monster, a 
blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all 
men disowned ? 

“ I cannot describe to you the agony that these re¬ 
flections inflicted upon me: I tried to dispel them, but 
sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had for 
ever remained in my native w r ood, nor known nor felt 
beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat! 

“ Of what a strange nature is knowledge ! It clings to 
the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on 
the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and 
feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to 
overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death—a 
state which I feared yet did not understand. I admired 
virtue and good feelings, and loved the gentle manners and 
amiable qualities of my cottagers ; but I was shut out from 
intercourse with them, except through means which I ob¬ 
tained by stealth, vdien I w r as unseen and unknown, and 
which rather increased than satisfied the desire I had of 
becoming one among my fellows. The gentle words of 

h 4 


104 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


Agatha, and the animated smiles of the charming Arabian, 
were not for me. The mild exhortations of the old man, 
and the lively conversation of the loved Felix, were not for 
me. Miserable, unhappy wretch ! 

e< Other lessons w T ere impressed upon me even more 
deeply. I heard of the difference of sexes ; and the birth 
and growth of children; how the father doated on the 
smiles of the infant, and the lively sallies of the older child; 
how all the life and cares of the mother were wrapped up 
in the precious charge; how the mind of youth expanded 
and gained knowledge ; of brother, sister, and all the various 
relationships which bind one human being to another in 
mutual bonds. 

“ But where were my friends and relations ? No father 
had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me 
with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life 
was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished 
nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I 
then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen 
a being resembling me, or who claimed any intercourse with 
me. What was I? The question again recurred, to be 
answered only with groans. 

“ I will soon explain to what these feelings tended; but 
allbw me now to return to the cottagers, whose story excited 
in me such various feelings of indignation, delight, and 
wonder, but which all terminated in additional love and 
reverence for my protectors (for so I loved, in an innocent, 
half painful self-deceit, to call them). 


CHAPTER XIV. 

“ Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my 
friends. It was one which could not fail to impress itself 
deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a number of cir¬ 
cumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly 
inexperienced as I was. 

“ The name of the old man was De Lacey. He was 
descended from a good family in France, where he had 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


105 


lived for many years in affluence, respected by his superiors, 
and beloved by his equals. His son was bred in the service 
of his country; and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the 
highest distinction. A few months before my arrival, they 
had lived in a large and luxurious city, called Paris, sur¬ 
rounded by friends, and possessed of every enjoyment which 
virtue, refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a 
moderate fortune, could afford. 

<e The father of‘Safie had been the cause of their wain. 
He was a Turkish merchant, and had inhabited Paris for 
many years, when, for some reason which I could not 
learn, he became obnoxious to the government. He was 
seized and cast into prison the very uay that Safie arrived 
from Constantinople to join him. He was tried, and con¬ 
demned to death. The injustice of his sentence was very 
flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that 
his religion and wealth, rather than the crime alleged against 
him, had been the cause of his condemnation. 

“ Felix had accidentally been present at the trial; his 
horror and indignation were uncontrollable, when he heard 
the decision of the court. He made, at that moment, a 
solemn vow to deliver him, and then looked around for the 
means. After many fruitless attempts to gain admittance 
to the prison, he found a strongly grated window in an un¬ 
guarded part of the building, which lighted the dungeon of 
the unfortunate Mahometan; who, loaded with chains, 
waited in despair the execution of the barbarous sentence. 
Felix visited the grate at night, and made known to the 
prisoner his intentions in his favour. The Turk, amazed 
and delighted, endeavoured to kindle the zeal of his deli¬ 
verer by promises of reward and w r ealth. Felix rejected 
his offers with contempt; yet when he saw the lovely 
Safie, who was allowed to visit her father, and who, by her 
gestures, expressed her lively gratitude, the youth could 
not help owning to his own mind, that the captive pos¬ 
sessed a treasure which would fully reward his toil and 
hazard. 

The Turk quickly perceived the impression that his 
daughter had made on the heart of Felix, and endeavoured 
to secure him more entirely in his interests by the promise 


106 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


of her hand in marriage, so soon as he should be conveyed 
to a place of safety. Felix was too delicate to accept this 
offer; yet he looked forward to the probability of the event 
as to the consummation of his happiness. 

“ During the ensuing days, while the preparations were 
going forward for the escape of the merchant, the zeal 
of Felix was warmed by several letters that he received 
from this lovely girl, who found means to express her 
thoughts in the language of her lover by the aid of an old 
man, a servant of her father, who understood French. She 
thanked him in the most ardent terms for his intended ser¬ 
vices towards her parent; and at the same time she gently 
deplored her own fate. 

“ I have copies of these letters; for I found means, 
during my residence in the hovel, to procure the imple¬ 
ments of writing; and the letters were often in the hands 
of Felix or Agatha. Before 1 depart, I will give them to 
you, they will prove the truth of my tale ; but at present, 
as the sun is already far declined, I shall only have time to 
repeat the substance of them to you. 

“ Safie related, that her mother was a Christian Arab, 
seized and made a slave by the Turks; recommended by 
her beauty, she had -won the heart of the father of Safie, 
W'ho married her. The young girl spoke in high and en¬ 
thusiastic terms of her mother, who, born in freedom, 
spurned the bondage to which she was now reduced. She 
instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion, and 
taught her to aspire to higher powders of intellect, and an 
independence of spirit, forbidden to the female followers of 
Mahomet. This lady died ; but her lessons were indelibly 
impressed on the mind of Safie, who sickened at the pro¬ 
spect of again returning to Asia, and being immured within 
the walls of a haram, allowed only to occupy herself with 
infantile amusements, ill suited to the temper of her 
soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation 
for virtue. The prospect of marrying a Christian, and 
remaining in a country where women w r ere allowed to take 
a rank in society, was enchanting to her. 

“ The day for the execution of the Turk was fixed; but, 
on the night previous to it, he quitted his prison, and be- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 107 

fore morning was distant many leagues from Paris. Felix 
had procured passports in the name of his father, sister, 
and himself. He had previously communicated his plan 
to the former, who aided the deceit by quitting his house, 
under the pretence of a journey, and concealed himself, with 
his daughter, in an obscure part of Paris. 

“ Felix conducted the fugitives through France to Lyons, 
and across Mont Cenis to Leghorn, where the merchant had 
decided to wait a favourable opportunity of passing into 
some part of the Turkish dominions. 

“ Safie resolved to remain with her father until the mo¬ 
ment of his departure, before which time the Turk re¬ 
newed his promise that she should be united to his deliverer ; 
and Felix remained with them in expectation of that event; 
and in the mean time he enjoyed the society of the Arabian, 
who exhibited towards him the simplest and tenderest af¬ 
fection. They conversed with one another through the 
means of an interpreter, and sometimes with the interpret¬ 
ation of looks; and Safie sang to him the divine airs of her 
native country. 

iC The Turk allowed this intimacy to take place, and 
encouraged the hopes of the youthful lovers, while in his 
heart he had formed far other plans. He loathed the idea that 
his daughter should be united to a Christian ; but he feared 
the resentment of Felix, if he should appear lukewarm; for 
he knew that he was still in the power of his deliverer, if 
he should choose to betray him to the Italian state which 
they inhabited. He revolved a thousand plans by which he 
should be enabled to prolong the deceit until it might be no 
longer necessary, and secretly to take his daughter with him 
w'hen he departed. His plans were facilitated by the news 
w’hich arrived from Paris. 

The government of France v r ere greatly enraged at the 
escape of their victim, and spared no pains to detect and 
punish his deliverer. The plot of Felix was quickly dis¬ 
covered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison. 
The news reached Felix, and roused him from his dream 
of pleasure. His blind and aged father, and his gentle 
sister, lay in a noisome dungeon, while he enjoyed the free 
air, and the society of her whom he loved. This idea was 


108 


FRANKENSTEIN; OR, 


torture to him. He quickly arranged with the Turks, that 
if the latter should find a favourable opportunity for escape 
before Felix could return to Italy, Safie should remain as a 
boarder at a convent at Leghorn; and then, quitting the 
lovely Arabian, he hastened to Paris, and delivered him¬ 
self up to the vengeance of the law, hoping to free De 
Lacey and Agatha by this proceeding. 

He did not succeed. They remained confined for five, 
months before the trial took place; the result of w r hich 
deprived them of their fortune, and condemned them to a 
perpetual exile from their native country. 

“ They found a miserable asylum in the cottage in Ger¬ 
many, where I discovered them. Felix soon learned that 
the treacherous Turk, for whom he and his family endured 
such unheard-of oppression, on discovering that his de¬ 
liverer w r as thus reduced to poverty and ruin, became a 
traitor to good feeling and honour, and had quitted Italy 
with his daughter, insultingly sending Felix a pittance of 
money, to aid him, as he said, in some plan of future main¬ 
tenance. 

“ Such were the events that preyed on the heart of Felix, 
and rendered him, when I first saw him, the most miser¬ 
able of his family. He could have endured poverty; and 
while this distress had been the meed of his virtue, he 
gloried in it: but the ingratitude of the Turk, and the loss 
of his beloved Safie, were misfortunes more bitter and ir¬ 
reparable. The arrival of the Arabian now infused new 
life into his soul. 

“ When the news reached Leghorn, that Felix w r as de¬ 
prived of his wealth and rank, the merchant commanded 
his daughter to think no more of her lover, but to prepare 
to return to her native country. The generous nature of 
Safie was outraged by this command ; she attempted to 
expostulate with her father, but he left her angrily, reiter¬ 
ating his tyrannical mandate. 

“ A few days after, the Turk entered his daughter’s 
apartment, and told her hastily, that he had reason to be¬ 
lieve that his residence at Leghorn had been divulged, and 
that he should speedily be delivered up to the French go¬ 
vernment ; he had, consequently hired a vessel to convey 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. lOf) 

him to Constantinople, for which city he should sail in a 
few hours. He intended to leave his daughter under the 
care of a confidential servant, to follow at her leisure with 
the greater part of his property, which had not yet arrived 
at Leghorn. 

“ When alone, Safie resolved in her own mind the plan 
of conduct that it would become her to pursue in this emer¬ 
gency. A residence in Turkey was abhorrent to her; her 
religion and her feelings were alike adverse to it. By some 
papers of her father, which fell into her hands, she heard 
of the exile of her lover, and learnt the name of the spot 
where he then resided. She hesitated some time, but at 
length she formed her determination. Taking with her 
some jewels that belonged to her, and a sum of money, she 
quitted Italy with an attendant, a native of Leghorn, but 
who understood the common language of Turkey, and de¬ 
parted for Germany. 

“ She arrived in safety at a town about twenty leagues 
from the cottage of De Lacey, when her attendant fell 
dangerously ill. Safie nursed her with the most devoted 
affection ; but the poor girl died, and the Arabian was left 
alone, unacquainted with the language of the country, and 
utterly ignorant of the customs of the world. She fell, 
however, into good hands. The Italian had mentioned the 
name of the spot for which they were bound ; and, after 
her death, the woman of the house in which they had lived 
took care that Safie should arrive in safety at the cottage 
of her lover. 


CHAPTER XV. 

“ Such was the history of my beloved cottagers. It im¬ 
pressed me deeply. I learned, from the views of social 
life which it developed, to admire their virtues, and to 
deprecate the vices of mankind. 

“ As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil ; bene- 
v'-Vnce r~, d generosity were ever present before me, inciting 



no 


FRANKENSTEIN , OR, 


within me a desire to become an actor in the busy scene 
where so many admirable qualities were called forth and 
displayed. But, in giving an account of the progress of 
my intellect, I must not omit a circumstance which oc¬ 
curred in the beginning of the month of August of the same 
year. 

One night, during my accustomed visit to the neigh¬ 
bouring wood, where I collected my own food, and brought 
home firing for my protectors, I found on the ground a 
leathern portmanteau, containing several articles of dress 
and some books. I eagerly seized the prize, and returned 
with it to my hovel. Fortunately the books were written 
in the language, the elements of which I had acquired at 
the cottage ; they consisted of c Paradise Lost,’ a volume 
of f Plutarch’s Lives,’ and the f Sorrows of Werter.’ The 
possession of these treasures gave me extreme delight; I 
now continually studied and exercised my mind upon these 
histories, whilst my friends were employed in their ordi¬ 
nary occupations. 

“ I can hardly describe to you the effect of these books. 
They produced in me an infinity of new images and feel¬ 
ings, that sometimes raised me to ecstacy, but more fre¬ 
quently sunk me into the lowest dejection. In the f Sorrows 
of Werter,’ besides the interest of its simple and affecting 
story, so many opinions are canvassed, and so many lights 
thrown upon what had hitherto been to me obscure sub¬ 
jects, that I found in it a never-ending source of speculation 
and astonishment. The gentle and domestic manners it 
described, combined with lofty sentiments and feelings, 
which had for their object something out of self, accorded 
well with my experience among my protectors, and with 
the wants which were for ever alive in my own bosom. 
But I thought Werter himself a more divine being than I 
had ever beheld or imagined; his character contained no 
pretension, but it sunk deep. The disquisitions upon death 
and suicide were calculated to fill me with wonder. I did 
not pretend to enter into the merits of the case, yet I in¬ 
clined towards the opinions of the hero, whose extinction I 
wept, without precisely understanding it. 

“ As I read, however, I applied much person .W : y 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


113 


own feelings and condition. I found myself similar, yet 
at the same time strangely unlike to the beings concerning 
whom I read, and to whose conversation I was a listener. 
I sympathised with, and partly understood them, but I was 
unformed in mind; I was dependent on none, and related 
to none. f The path of my departure was free ; * and there 
was none to lament my annihilation. My person was 
hideous, and my stature gigantic ? What did this mean ? 
Who was I ? What was I? Whence did I come? What 
was my destination ? These questions continually recurred, 
but I was unable to solve them. 

“ The volume of f Plutarch’s Lives,’ which I possessed, 
contained the histories of the first founders of the ancient 
republics. This book had a far different effect .upon me 
from the ‘ Sorrows of Werter/ I learned from Werter’s 
imaginations despondency and gloom : but Plutarch taught 
me high thoughts; he elevated me above the wretched 
sphere of my own reflections, to admire and love the heroes 
of past ages. Many things I read surpassed my under¬ 
standing and experience. I had a very confused knowledge 
of kingdoms, wide extents of country, mighty rivers, and 
boundless seas. But I was perfectly unacquainted with 
towns, and large assemblages of men. The cottage of my 
protectors had been the only school in which I had studied 
human nature; but this book developed new and mightier 
scenes of action. I read of men concerned in public affairs, 
governing or massacring their species. I felt the greatest 
ardour for virtue rise within me, and abhorrence for vice, 
as far as I understood the signification of those terms, re¬ 
lative as they were, as I applied them, to pleasure and pain 
alone. Induced by these feelings, I was of course led to 
admire peaceable lawgivers, Numa, Solon, and Lycurgus, 
in preference to Romulus and Theseus. The patriarchal 
lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a 
firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction 
to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning 
for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with 
different sensations. 

C( But c Paradise Lost’ excited different and far deeper 
emotions. I read it, as I had read the other volumes which 


112 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


had fallen into my hands, as a true history. It moved 
every feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an 
omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of 
exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their 
similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was ap¬ 
parently united by no link to any other being in existence ; 
but his state was far different from mine in every other 
respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a per¬ 
fect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial 
care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and 
acquire knowledge from, beings of a superior nature : but I 
was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I con¬ 
sidered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for 
often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, 
the bitter gall of envy rose within me. 

“ Another circumstance strengthened and confirmed these 
feelings. Soon after my arrival in the hovel, I discovered 
some papers in the pocket of the dress which I had taken 
from your laboratory. At first I had neglected them; but 
now that I was able to decipher the characters in which 
they were written, I began to study them with diligence. 
It was your journal of the four months that preceded my 
creation. You minutely described in these papers every 
step you took in the progress of your work; this history 
was mingled with accounts of domestic occurrences. You, 
doubtless, recollect these papers. Here they are. Every 
thing is related in them which bears reference to my ac¬ 
cursed origin ; the whole detail of that series of disgusting 
circumstances which produced it, is set in view; the minutest 
description of my odious and loathsome person is given, in 
language which painted your own horrors, and rendered 
mine indelible. I sickened as I read. f Hateful day when 
I received life ! ’ I exclaimed in agony. f Accursed creator! 
Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you 
turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man 
beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form 
is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very 
resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to 
admire and encourage him ; but I am solitary and ab¬ 
horred/ 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


113 


ec These were the reflections of my hours of despond¬ 
ency and solitude ; but when I contemplated the virtues of * 
the cottagers, their amiable and benevolent dispositions, I 
persuaded myself that when they should become acquainted 
with my admiration of their virtues, they would compas¬ 
sionate me, and overlook my personal deformity. Could 
they turn from their door one, however monstrous, who 
solicited their compassion and friendship ? I resolved, at 
least, not to despair, but in every way to fit myself for an 
interview with them which would decide my fate. I post¬ 
poned this attempt for some months longer; for the im¬ 
portance attached to its success inspired me with a dread 
lest I should fail. Besides, I found that my understanding 
improved so much with every day’s experience, that I was 
unwilling to commence this undertaking until a few more 
months should have added to my sagacity. 

“ Several changes, in the mean time, took place in the 
cottage. The presence of Safie diffused happiness among 
its inhabitants; and I also found that a greater degree of 
plenty reigned there. Felix and Agatha spent more time in 
amusement and conversation, and were assisted in their la¬ 
bours by servants. They did not appear rich, but they were 
contented and happv ; their feelings were serene and peace¬ 
ful, while mine became every day more tumultuous. In¬ 
crease of knowledge only discovered to me more clearly 
what a wretched outcast I was. I cherished hope, it is 
true ; but it vanished, when I beheld my person reflected 
in water, or my shadow in the moonshine, even as that frail 
image and that inconstant shade. 

“ I endeavoured to crush these fears, and to fortify my¬ 
self for the trial which in a few months I resolved to 
undergo; and sometimes I allowed my thoughts, unchecked 
by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise, and dared to 
fancy amiable and lovely creatures sympathising with my 
feelings, and cheering my gloom; their angelic counte¬ 
nances breathed smiles of consolation. But it was all a 
dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows, nor shared my thoughts; 

I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his 
Creator. But where was mine ? He had abandoned me; 
and, in the bitterness of my heart, I cursed him. 

i 


11 4 > 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


“ Autumn passed thus. I saw, with surprise and grief, 
the leaves decay and fall, and nature again assume the bar¬ 
ren and bleak appearance it had worn when I first beheld 
the woods and the lovely moon. Yet I did not heed the 
bleakness of the weather; I was better fitted by my con¬ 
formation for the endurance of cold than heat. But my 
chief delights were the sight of the flowers, the birds, and 
all the gay apparel of summer; when those deserted me, I 
turned with more attention towards the cottagers. Their 
happiness was not decreased by the absence of summer. 
They loved, and sympathised with one another; and their 
joys, depending on each other, were not interrupted by the 
casualties that took place around them. The more I saw 
of them, the greater became my desire to claim their pro¬ 
tection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and 
loved by these amiable creatures: to see their sweet looks 
directed towards me with affection, was the utmost limit of 
my ambition. I dared not think that they would turn 
them from me with disdain and horror. The poor that 
stopped at their door were never driven away. I asked, it 
is true, for greater treasures than a little food or rest: I 
required kindness and sympathy; but I did not believe 
myself utterly unworthy of it. 

u The Avinter advanced, and an entire revolution of the 
seasons had taken place since I awoke into life. My at¬ 
tention, at this time, was solely directed towards my plan 
of introducing myself into the cottage of my protectors. I 
revolved many projects; but that on which I finally fixed 
was, to enter the dwelling when the blind old man should 
be alone. I had sagacity enough to discover, that the un¬ 
natural hideousness of my person was the chief object of 
horror with those who had formerly heheld me. My voice, 
although harsh, had nothing terrible in it; I thought, 
therefore, that if, in the absence of his children, I could 
gain the good-will and mediation of the old De Lacey, I 
might, by his means, be tolerated by my younger pro¬ 
tectors. 

“ One day, when the sun shone on the red leaves that 
strewed the ground, and diffused cheerfulness, although it 
denied warmth, Safie, Agatha, and Felix departed on a 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


115 


long country walk, and the old man, at his own desire, was 
left alone in the cottage. When his children had departed, 
he took up his guitar, and played several mournful but 
sweet airs, more sweet and mournful than I had ever heard 
him play before. At first his countenance was illuminated 
with pleasure, but, as he continued, thoughtfulness and 
sadness succeeded; at length, laying aside the instrument, 
he sat absorbed in reflection. 

“ My heart beat quick ; this was the hour and moment 
of trial, which would decide my hopes, or realise my fears. 
The servants were gone to a neighbouring fair. All was 
silent in and around the cottage : it was an excellent oppor¬ 
tunity; yet, when I proceeded to execute my plan, my 
limbs failed me, and I sank to the ground. Again I rose; 
and, exerting all the firmness of which I was master, re¬ 
moved the planks which I had placed before my hovel to 
conceal my retreat. The fresh air revived me, and, with 
renewed determination, I approached the door of their 
cottage. 

“I knocked. ‘ Who is there?’ said the old man — 
* Come in.’ 

“ I entered; e Pardon this intrusion/ said I: f I am a 
traveller in want of a little rest; you would greatly oblige 
me., if you would allow me to remain a few minutes before 
the fire/ 

ff ‘ Enter/ said De Lacey; f and I will try in what 
manner I can relieve your wants; but, unfortunately, my 
children are from home, and, as I am blind, I am afraid I 
shaH find it difficult to procure food for you.’ 

“ c Do not trouble yourself, my kind host, I have food; 
it is warmth and rest only that I need.’ 

e: I sat down, and a silence ensued. I knew that every 
minute was precious to me, yet I remained irresolute in 
what manner to commence the interview; when the old 
man addressed me — 

“ f By your language, stranger, I suppose you are my 
countryman ; — are you French ?* 

(C c No ; but I was educated by a French family, and 
understand that language only. I am now going to claim 

i 2 





116 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

the protection of some friends, whom I sincerely love, and 
of whose favour I have some hopes/ 

“ c Are they Germans ? ’ 

f No, they are French. But let us change the sub* 
ject. I am an unfortunate and deserted creature; I look 
around, and I have no relation or friend upon earth. These 
amiable people to whom I go have never seen me, and 
know little of me. I am full of fears; for if I fail there, 
I am an outcast in the world for ever/ 

ce c Do not despair. To be friendless is indeed to be 
unfortunate ; but the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by 
any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and 
charity. Rely, therefore, on your hopes; and if these 
friends are good and amiable, do not despair/ 

f They are kind — they are the most excellent crea¬ 
tures in the world; but, unfortunately, they are prejudiced 
against me. I have good dispositions; my life has been 
hitherto harmless, and in some degree beneficial; but a 
fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to 
see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable 
monster/ 

“ f That is indeed unfortunate; but if you are really 
blameless, cannot you undeceive them ? ’ 

“ e I am about to undertake that task; and it is on that 
account that I feel so many overwhelming terrors. I ten¬ 
derly love these friends; I have, unknown to them, been 
for many months in the habits of daily kindness towards 
them ; but they believe that I wish to injure them, and it 
is that prejudice which I wish to overcome/ 

“ ( Where do these friends reside ? ’ 

<e ‘ Near this spot/ 

“ The old man paused, and then continued, e If you 
will unreservedly confide to me the particulars of your tale, 
I perhaps may be of use in undeceiving them. I am blind, 
and cannot judge of your countenance, but there is some¬ 
thing in your words, which persuades me that you are sin¬ 
cere. I am poor, and an exile; but it will afford me 
true pleasure to be in any way serviceable to a human 
creature/ 

“ f Excellent man ! I thank you, and accept your ge- 








THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


117 


nerous offer. You raise me from the dust by this kindness; 
and I trust that, by your aid, I shall not be driven from 
the society and sympathy of your fellow-creatures.’ 

“ ( Heaven forbid! even if you were really criminal; 
for that can only drive you to desperation, and not insti¬ 
gate you to virtue. I also am unfortunate; I and my 
family have been condemned, although innocent: judge, 
therefore, if I do not feel for your misfortunes/ 

“ c How can I thank you, my best and only benefactor ? 
From your lips first have I heard the voice of kindness 
directed towards me; I shall he for ever grateful; and your 
present humanity assures me of success with those friends 
whom I am on the point of meeting/ 

f May I know the names and residence of those 
friends ? ’ 

I paused. This, I thought, was the moment of deci¬ 
sion, which was to rob me of, or bestow happiness on me 
for ever. I struggled vainly for firmness sufficient to 
answer him, but the effort destroyed all my remaining 
strength; I sank on the chair, and sobbed aloud. At that 
moment I heard the steps of my younger protectors. I had 
not a moment to lose; hut, seizing the hand of the old 
man, I cried, e Now is the time ! — save and protect me ! 
You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do 
not you desert me in the hour of trial! * 

“ ‘ Great God! ’ exclaimed the old man, f who are 
you ? ’ 

At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, 
Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror 
and consternation on beholding me ? Agatha fainted; and 
Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the 
cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force 
tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a 
transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck 
me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb 
from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart 
sunk within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. 
I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, over¬ 
come by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage, and in the 
general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel. 

i 3 


118 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


\ 


CHAPTER XVI. 


Cursed, cursed creator ! Why did I live ? Why, in that 
instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which 
you had so wantonly bestowed ? I know not; despair had 
not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of 
rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed 
the cottage and its inhabitants, and have glutted myself 
with their shrieks and misery. 

“ When night came, I quitted my retreat, and wandered 
in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of 
discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful bowlings. 
I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils; destroying 
the objects that obstructed me, and ranging through the 
wood with a stag-like swiftness. O ! what a miserable 
night I passed! the cold stars shone in mockery, and the 
bare trees waved their branches above me : now and then 
the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal 
stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment: I, 
like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me; and, finding 
myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees, 
spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have 
sat down and enjoyed the ruin. 

“ But this was a luxury of sensation that could not en¬ 
dure ; I became fatigued with excess of bodily exertion, 
and sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence o^ 
despair. There was none among the myriads of men that 
existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel 
kindness towards my enemies ? No : from that moment I 
declared everlasting war against the species, and, more than 
all, against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to 
this insupportable misery. 

“ The sun rose; I heard the voices of men, and knew 
that it was impossible to return to my retreat during that 
day. Accordingly I hid myself in some thick underwood, 
determining to devote the ensuing hours to reflection on my 
situation. 

“ The pleasant sunshine, and the pure air of day, re« 





THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


119 

stored me to some degree of tranquillity; and when I 
considered what had passed at the cottage, I could not 
help believing that I had been too hasty in my conclusions. 
I had certainly acted imprudently. It was apparent that 
my conversation had interested the father in my behalf, and 
I was a fool in having exposed my person to the horror of 
his children. I ought to have familiarised the old De Lacey 
to me, and by degrees to have discovered myself to the rest 
of his family, when they should have been prepared for my 
approach. But I did not believe my errors to be irre¬ 
trievable ; and, after much consideration, I resolved to 
return to the cottage, seek the old man, and by my repre¬ 
sentations win him to my party. 

ee These thoughts calmed me, and in the afternoon I 
sank into a profound sleep; but the fever of my blood did 
not allow me to be visited by peaceful dreams. The hor¬ 
rible scene of the preceding day was for ever acting before 
my eyes; the females were flying, and the enraged Felix 
tearing me from his father’s feet. I awoke exhausted; 
and, finding that it was already night, I crept forth from 
my hiding-place, and went in search of food. 

“ When my hunger was appeased, I directed my steps 
towards the well-known path that conducted to the cottage. 
All there was at peace. I crept into my hovel, and re¬ 
mained in silent expectation of the accustomed hour when 
the family arose. That hour passed, the sun mounted high 
in the heavens, but the cottagers did not appear. I trembled 
violently, apprehending some dreadful misfortune. The 
inside of the cottage was dark, and I heard no motion; I 
cannot describe the agony of this suspense. 

“ Presently two countrymen passed by; but, pausing 
near the cottage, they entered into conversation, using vio¬ 
lent gesticulations ; but I did not understand what they 
said, as they spoke the language of the country, which dif¬ 
fered from that of my protectors. Soon after, however, 
Felix approached with another man : I was surprised, as I 
knew that he had not quitted the cottage that morning, and 
waited anxiously to discover, from his discourse, the mean¬ 
ing of these unusual appearances. 

(i ( Do you consider,’ said his companion to him, ‘ that 

i 4 


120 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


you will be obliged to pay three months* rent, and to lose 
the produce of your garden ? I do not wish to take any 
unfair advantage, and I beg therefore that you will take 
some days to consider of your determination.’ 

“ f It is utterly useless/ replied Felix ; * we can never 
again inhabit your cottage. The life of my father is in 
the greatest danger, owing to the dreadful circumstance 
that I have related. My wife and my sister will never 
recover their horror. I entreat you not to reason w r ith me 
any more. Take possession of your tenement, and let me 
fly from this place.’ 

<e Felix trembled violently as he said this. He and his 
companion entered the cottage, in which they remained for 
a few minutes, and then departed. I never saw any of the 
family of De Lacey more. 

“ I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel 
in a state of utter and stupid despair. My protectors had 
departed, and had broken the only link that held me to the 
world. For the first time the feelings of revenge and 
hatred filled my bosom, and I did not strive to control 
them ; but, allowing myself to be borne away by the stream, 
I bent my mind towards injury and death. When I 
thought of my friends, of the mild voice of De Lacey, the 
gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the 
Arabian, these thoughts vanished, and a gush of tears 
somewhat soothed me. But again, when I reflected that 
they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage 
of anger ; and, unable to injure any thing human, I turned 
my fury towards inanimate objects. As night advanced, I 
placed a variety of combustibles around the cottage; and, 
after having destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the 
garden, 1 waited with forced impatience until the moon 
had sunk to commence my operations. 

“ As the night advanced, a fierce wind arose from the 
woods, and quickly dispersed the clouds that had loitered 
in the heavens : the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche, 
and produced a kind of insanity in my spirits, that burst 
all bounds of reason and reflection. I lighted the dry 
branch of a tree, and danced with fury around the devoted 
cottage, my eyes still fixed on the western horizon, the edge 




THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


121 


of which the moon nearly touched. A part of its orb was 
at length hid, and I waved my brand ; it sunk, and, with a 
loud scream, I fired the straw, and heath, and bushes, which 
I had collected. The wind fanned the fire, and the cottage 
was quickly enveloped by the flames, which clung to it, and 
licked it with their forked and destroying tongues. 

“ As soon as I was convinced that no assistance could 
save any part of the habitation, I quitted the scene, and 
sought for refuge in the woods. 

“ And now, with the world before me, whither should I 
bend my steps ? I resolved to fly far from the scene of my 
misfortunes; but to me, hated and despised, every country 
must be equally horrible. At length the thought of you 
crossed my mind. I learned from your papers that you 
were my father, my creator ; and to whom could I apply 
with more fitness than to him who had given me life ? 
Among the lessons that Felix had bestowed upon Safie, 
geography had not been omitted : I had learned from these 
the relative situations of the different countries of the earth. 
You had mentioned Geneva as the name of your native 
town ; and towards this place I resolved to proceed. 

But how was I to direct myself? I knew that I must 
travel in a south-westerly direction to reach my destination; 
but the sun was my only guide. I did not know the names 
of the towns that I was to pass through, nor could I ask 
information from a single human being ; but I did not 
despair. From you only could I hope for succour, although 
towards you I felt no sentiment but that of hatred. Un¬ 
feeling, heartless creator ! you had endowed me with per¬ 
ceptions and passions, and then cast me abroad an object 
for the scorn and horror of mankind. But on you only 
had I any claim for pity and redress, and from you I de¬ 
termined to seek that justice which I vainly attempted to 
gain from any other being that wore the human form. 

“ My travels were long, and the sufferings I endured 
intense. It was late in autumn when I quitted the district 
where I had so long resided. I travelled only at night, 
fearful of encountering the visage of a human being. Na¬ 
ture decayed around me, and the sun became heatless ; rain 
and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen ; 


’ 122 


fkankenstein ; or, 


the surface of the earth was hard and chill, and bare, and 
I found no shelter. Oh, earth! how often did I imprecate 
curses on the cause of my being! The mildness of my 
nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and 
bitterness. The nearer I approached to your habitation, 
the more deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge enkindled 
in my heart. Snow fell, and the waters were hardened; but 
I rested not. A few incidents now and then directed me, 
and I possessed a map of the country; but I often wan¬ 
dered wide from my path. The agony of my feelings al¬ 
lowed me no respite : no incident occurred from which my 
rage and misery could not extract its food; but a circum¬ 
stance that happened when I arrived on the confines of 
Switzerland, when the sun had recovered its warmth, and 
the earth again began to look green, confirmed in an especial 
manner the bitterness and horror of my feelings. 

“ I generally rested during the day, and travelled only 
when I was secured by night from the view of man. One 
morning, however, finding that my path lay through a deep 
wood, I ventured to continue my journey after the sun had 
risen ; the day, which was one of the first of spring, cheered 
even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess 
of the air. I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that 
had long appeared dead, revive within me. Half surprised 
by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be 
borne away by them ; and, forgetting my solitude and de¬ 
formity, dared to be happy. Soft tears again bedewed my 
cheeks, and I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness 
towards the blessed sun which bestowed such joy upon me. 

“ I continued to wind among the paths of the wood, 
until I came to its boundary, which was skirted by a deep 
and rapid river, into which many of the trees bent their 
branches, now budding with the fresh spring. Here I 
paused, not exactly knowing what path to pursue, when I 
heard the sound of voices, that induced me to conceal myself 
under the shade of a cypress. 1 was scarcely hid, when a 
young girl came running towards the spot where I was con¬ 
cealed, laughing, as if she ran from some one in sport. She 
continued her course along the precipitous sides of the river, 
when suddenly her foot slipt, and she fell into the rapid 






THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


123 


stream. I rushed from my hiding-place; and, with extreme 
labour from the force of the current, saved her, and dragged 
her to shore. She was senseless ; and I endeavoured, by 
every means in my power, to restore animation, when I was 
suddenly interrupted by the approach of a rustic, who was 
probably the person from whom she had playfully fled. On 
seeing me, he darted towards me, and tearing the girl from 
my arms, hastened towards the deeper parts of the wood. 
I followed speedily, I hardly knew why; but when the 
man saw me draw near, he aimed a gun, which he carried, 
at my body, and fired. I sunk to the ground, and my in- 
jurer, with increased swiftness, escaped into the wood. 

ct This was then the reward of my benevolence ! I had 
saved a human being from destruction, and, as a recompense, 
I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound, which 
shattered the flesh and bone. The feelings of kindness and 
gentleness, which I had entertained but a few moments 
before, gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth. 
Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to 
all mankind. But the agony of my wound overcame me; 
my pulses paused, and I fainted. 

“ For some weeks I led a miserable life in the woods, 
endeavouring to cure the wound which I had received. The 
ball had entered my shoulder, and I knew not whether it 
had remained there or passed through; at any rate I had 
no means of extracting it. My sufferings were augmented 
also by the oppressive sense of the injustice and ingratitude 
of their infliction. My daily vows rose for revenge—a deep 
and deadly revenge, such as would alone compensate for the 
outrages and anguish I had endured. 

After some weeks my wound healed, and I continued 
my journey. The labours I endured were no longer to be 
alleviated by the bright sun or gentle breezes of spring; all 
joy was but a mockery, which insulted my desolate state, 
and made me feel more painfully that I was not made for 
the enjoyment of pleasure. 

But my toils now drew near a close; and, in two 
months from this time, I reached the environs of Geneva. 

“ It was evening when I arrived, and I retired to a 
hiding-place among the fields that surround it, to meditate 


124 


FRANKENSTEIN J OR, 


in what manner I should apply to you. I was oppressed 
by fatigue and hunger, and far too unhappy to enjoy the 
gentle breezes of evening, or the prospect of the sun setting 
behind the stupendous mountains of Jura. 

“ At this time a slight sleep relieved me from the pain of 
reflection, which was disturbed by the approach of a beautiful 
child, who came running into the recess I had chosen, with 
all the sportiveness of infancy. Suddenly, as I gazed on 
him, an idea seized me, that this little creature was unpre¬ 
judiced, and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a 
horror of deformity. If, therefore, I could seize him, and 
educate him as my companion and friend, I should not he 
so desolate in this peopled earth. 

“ Urged by this impulse, I seized on the boy as he passed, 
and drew him towards me. As soon as he beheld my form, 
he placed his hands before his eyes, and uttered a shrill 
scream: I drew his hand forcibly from his face, and said, 
e Child, what is the meaning of this ? I do not intend to 
hurt you; listen to me/ 

“He struggled violently. ‘Let me go/ he cried; ‘monster! 
ugly wretch ! you wish to eat me, and tear me to pieces— 
You are an ogre—Let me go, or I will tell my papa.’ 

“ f Boy, you will never see your father again ; you must 
come with me/ 

“ ‘ Hideous monster ! let me go. My papa is a Syndic 
—he is M. Frankenstein—he will punish you. You dare 
not keep me.’ 

“ e Frankenstein ! you belong then to my enemy—to 
him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall 
be my first victim.’ 

“ The child still struggled, and loaded me with epithets 
which carried despair to my heart; I grasped his throat to 
silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet. 

“ I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with ex¬ 
ultation and hellish triumph : clapping my hands, I ex¬ 
claimed, e I, too, can create desolation; my enemy is not 
invulnerable ; this death will carry despair to him, and a 
thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him/ 

“ As I fixed my eyes on the child, I saw something 
glittering on his breast. I took it; it w r as a portrait of a 







THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


125 


most lovely woman. In spite of my malignity, it softened 
and attracted me. For a few moments I gazed with delight 
on her dark eyes, fringed by deep lashes, and her lovely 
lips ; but presently my rage returned: I remembered that 
I was for ever deprived of the delights that such beautiful 
creatures could bestow; and that she whose resemblance I 
contemplated would, in regarding me, have changed that 
air of divine benignity to one expressive of disgust and 
affright. 

“ Can you wonder that such thoughts transported me 
with rage ? I only wonder that at that moment, instead of 
venting my sensations in exclamations and agony, I did not 
rushamongmankind, and perish in the attempt to destroy them. 

“ While I was overcome by these feelings, I left the spot 
where I had committed the murder, and seeking a more se¬ 
cluded hiding-place, I entered a barn which had appeared 
to me to be empty. A woman was sleeping on some straw; 
she was young: not indeed so beautiful as her whose por¬ 
trait I held; but of an agreeable aspect, and blooming in 
the loveliness of youth and health. Here, I thought, is one 
of those whose joy-imparting smiles are bestowed on all but 
me. And then I bent over her, and whispered f Awake, 
fairest, thy lover is near—he who would give his life but to 
obtain one look of affection from thine eyes: my beloved, 
awake ! ’ 

(C The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me. 
Should she indeed awake, and see me, and curse me, and 
denounce the murderer ? Thus would she assuredly act, if 
her darkened eyes opened, and she beheld me. The thought 
was madness; it stirred the fiend within me—not I, but 
she shall suffer: the murder I have committed because I 
am for ever robbed of all that she could give me, she shall 
atone. The crime had its source in her: be hers the 
punishment! Thanks to the lessons of Felix and the san¬ 
guinary laws of man, I had learned now to work mischief. 
I bent over her, and placed the portrait securely in one of 
the folds of her dress. She moved again, and I fled. 

“ For some days I haunted the spot where these scenes 
had taken place; sometimes wishing to see you, some¬ 
times resolved to quit the world and its miseries for ever. 


126 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

At length I wandered towards these mountains, and have 
ranged through their immense recesses, consumed by a 
burning passion which you alone can gratify. We may 
not part until you have promised to comply with my requi¬ 
sition. I am alone, and miserable ; man will not associate 
with me ; but one as deformed and horrible as myself 
would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of 
the same species, and have the same defects. This being 
you must create.” 


CHATTER XVII 

The being finished speaking, and fixed his looks upon me 
in expectation of a reply. But I was bewildered, perplexed, 
and unable to arrange my ideas sufficiently to understand 
the full extent of his proposition. He continued — 

“ You must create a female for me, with whom I can 
live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for 
my being. This you alone can do ; and I demand it of you 
as a right which you must not refuse to concede.” 

The latter part of his tale had kindled anew in me the 
anger that had died away while he narrated his peaceful 
life among the cottagers, and, as he said this, I could no 
longer suppress the rage that burned within me. 

ce I do refuse it,” I replied; “ and no torture shall ever 
extort a consent from me. You may render me the most 
miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my 
own eyes. Shall I create another like yourself, whose joint 
wickedness might desolate the world. Begone ! I have 
answered you ; you may torture me, but I will never con¬ 
sent.” 

“ You are in the wrong,” replied the fiend; “ and, in¬ 
stead of threatening, I am content to reason with you. I 
am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned 
and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear 
me to pieces, and triumph ; remember that, and tell me 
why I should pity man more than he pities me ? You "would 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 127 

not call it murder, if you could precipitate me into one 
of those ice-rifts, and destroy my frame, the work of your 
own hands. Shall I respect man, when he contemns me ? 
Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness; ancf 
instead of injury, I would bestow every benefit upon him 
with tears of gratitude at his acceptance. But that cannot 
be ; the human senses are insurmountable harriers to our 
union. Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject 
slavery. I will revenge my injuries : if I cannot inspire 
love, I will cause fear; and chiefly towards you my arch¬ 
enemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable 
hatred. Have a care : I will work at your destruction, nor 
finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse 
the hour of your birth.” 

A fiendish rage animated him as he said this ; his face 
was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes 
to behold; but presently he calmed himself and pro¬ 
ceeded — 

“ I intended to reason. This passion is detrimental to 
me; for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its 
excess. If any being felt emotions of benevolence towards 
me, I should return them an hundred and an hundred 
fold; for that one creature’s sake, I would make peace with 
the whole kind! But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that 
cannot be realised. What I ask of you is reasonable and 
moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as 
hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all 
that I can receive, and it shall content me. It is true, we 
shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that 
account we shall be more attached to one another. Our 
lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free 
from the misery I now feel. Oh ! my creator, make me 
happy ; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit 1 
Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing 
thing ; do not deny me my request !” 

I was moved. I shuddered when I thought of the pos¬ 
sible consequences of my consent; but I felt that there was 
some justice in his argument. His tale, and the feelings 
he now expressed, proved him to be a creature of fine sen¬ 
sations ; and did I not as his maker, owe him all the portion 


128 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR 


of happiness that it was in my power to bestow ? He saw 
my change of feeling, and continued — 

“ If you consent, neither you nor any other human being 
shall ever see us again: I will go to the vast wilds of South 
America. My food is not that of man ; I do not destroy 
the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and 
berries afford me sufficient nourishment. My companion 
will be of the same nature as myself, and will he content 
with the same fare. We shall make our bed of dried 
leaves; the sun will shine on us as on man, and will ripen 
our food. The picture I present to you is peaceful and 
human, and you must feel that you could deny it only in 
the wantonness of poAver and cruelty. Pitiless as you have 
been towards me, I now see compassion in your eyes; let 
me seize the favourable moment, and persuade you to pro¬ 
mise what I so ardently desire.” 

“ You propose,” replied I, “to fly from the habitations 
of man, to dwell in those wilds where the beasts of the 
field will be your only companions. How can you, who 
long for the love and sympathy of man, persevere in this 
exile ? You will return, and again seek their kindness, and 
you will meet with their detestation ; your evil passions 
will be renewed, and you will then have a companion to aid 
you in the task of destruction. This may not be: cease 
to argue the point, for I cannot consent.” 

“ How inconstant are your feelings ! but a moment ago 
you were moved by my representations, and why do you 
again harden yourself to my complaints ? I swear to you, 
by the earth which I inhabit, and by you that made me, 
that, with the companion you bestow, I will quit the neigh¬ 
bourhood of man, and dwell as it may chance, in the most 
savage of places. My evil passions will have fled, for I 
shall meet with sympathy ! my life will flow quietly 
away, and, in my dying moments, I shall not curse my 
maker.” 

His words had a strange effect upon me. I compas¬ 
sionated him, and sometimes felt a wish to console him ; 
but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass 
that moved and talked, my heart sickened, and my feelings 
were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


m 

stifle these sensations ; I thought, that as I could not sym¬ 
pathise with him, I had no right to withhold from him the 
small portion of happiness which was yet in my power to 
bestow. 

“ You swear,” I said, “ to be harmless; but have you 
not already shown a degree of malice that should reason¬ 
ably make me distrust you ? May not even this be a feint 
that will increase your triumph by affording a wider scope 
for your revenge.” 

“ How is this ? i must not be trifled with : and I de¬ 
mand an answer. If I have no ties and no affections, 
hatred and vice must be my portion ; the love of another 
will destroy the cause of my crimes, and I shall become a 
thing, of whose existence every one will be ignorant. My 
vices are the children of a forced solitude that I abhor ; and 
my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion 
with an equal. I shall feel the affections of a sensitive 
being, and become linked to the chain of existence and 
events, from which I am now excluded.” 

I paused some time to reflect on all he had related, and 
the various arguments which he had employed. I thought 
of the promise of virtues which he had displayed on the 
opening of his existence, and the subsequent blight of all 
kindly feeling by the loathing and scorn which his pro¬ 
tectors had manifested towards him. His power and 
threats were not omitted in my calculations: a creature who 
could exist in the ice-caves of the glaciers, and hide himself 
from pursuit among the ridges of inaccessible precipices, 
was a being possessing faculties it would be vain to cope 
with. After a long pause of reflection, I concluded that 
the justice due both to him and my fellow-creatures de¬ 
manded of me that I should comply with his request. 
Turning to him, therefore, I said — 

“ I consent to your demand, on your solemn oath to 
quit Europe for ever, and every other place in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of man, as soon as I shall deliver into your 
hands a female who will accompany you in your exile.” 

“ I swear,” he cried, “ by the sun, and by the blue sky 
of Heaven, and by the fire of love that burns my heart, 
that if you grant my prayer, while they exist you shall 

K 


130 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


never behold me again. Depart to your home, and com¬ 
mence your labours : I shall watch their progress with 
unutterable anxiety; and fear not but that when you are 
ready I shall appear.” 

Saying this, he suddenly quitted me, fearful, perhaps, 
of any change in my sentiments. I saw him descend the 
mountain with greater speed than the flight of an eagle, 
and quickly lost among the undulations of the sea of ice. 

His tale had occupied the whole day; and the sun was 
upon the verge of the horizon when he departed. I knew 
that I ought to hasten my descent towards the valley, as I 
should soon be encompassed in darkness ; but my heart was 
heavy, and my steps slow. The labour of winding among the 
little paths of the mountains, and fixing my feet firmly as 
I advanced, perplexed me, occupied as I was by the emo¬ 
tions which the occurrences of the day had produced. 
Night was far advanced, when I came to the half-way 
resting-place, and seated myself beside the fountain. The 
stars shone at intervals, as the clouds passed from over 
them ; the dark pines rose before me, and every here and 
there a broken tree lay on the ground: it was a scene of 
wonderful solemnity, and stirred strange thoughts within 
me. I wept bitterly; and clasping my hands in agony, I 
exclaimed, “ Oh ! stars and clouds, and winds, ye are all 
about to mock me : if ye really pity me, crush sensation 
and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, 
depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.” 

These were wild and miserable thoughts; but I cannot 
describe to you how the eternal twinkling of the stars 
weighed upon me, and how I listened to every blast of 
wind, as if it were a dull ugly siroc on its way to consume 
me. 

Morning dawned before I arrived at the village of Cha¬ 
in ounix ; I took no rest, but returned immediately to 
Geneva. Even in my own heart I could give no expres¬ 
sion to my sensations—they weighed on me with a moun¬ 
tain’s weight, and their excess destroyed my agony beneath 
them. Thus I returned home, and entering the house, 
presented myself to the family. • My haggard and wild 
appearance awoke intense'alarm; but I answered no ques- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


131 


tion, scarcely did I speak. I felt as if I were placed under 
a ban — as if I had no right to claim their sympathies— 
as if never more might I enjoy companionship with them. 
Yet even thus I loved them to adoration ; and to save them, 
I resolved to dedicate myself to my most abhorred task. 
The prospect of such an occupation made every other cir¬ 
cumstance of existence pass before me like a dream; and 
that thought only had to me the reality of life. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Day after day, week after week, passed away on my return 
to Geneva; and I could not collect the courage to re¬ 
commence my work. I feared the vengeance of the disap¬ 
pointed fiend, yet I was unable to overcome my repugnance 
to the task which was enjoined me. I found that I could 
not compose a female without again devoting several months 
to profound study and laborious disquisition. I had heard 
of some discoveries having been made by an English phi¬ 
losopher, the knowledge of which was material to my success, 
and I sometimes thought of obtaining my father’s consent 
to visit England for this purpose; but I clung to every 
pretence of delay, and shrunk from taking the first step in 
an undertaking whose immediate necessity began to appear 
less absolute to ms. A change indeed had taken place in 
me : my health, which had hitherto declined, was now much 
restored; and my spirits, when unchecked by the memory 
of my unhappy promise, rose proportionably. My father 
saw this change with pleasure, and he turned his thoughts 
towards the best method of eradicating the remains of my 
melancholy, which every now and then would return by fits, 
and with a devouring blackness overcast the approaching 
sunshine. At these moments I took refuge in the most 
perfect solitude. I passed whole days on the lake alone in 
a little boat, watching the clouds, and listening to the 
rippling of the w r aves, silent and listless. But the fresh air 
md bright sun seldom failed to restore me to some degree 

k 2 



132 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


of composure; and, on my return, I met the salutations of 
my friends with a readier smile and a more cheerful heart. 

It was after my return from one of these rambles, that 
my father, calling me aside, thus addressed me: — 

“ I am happy to remark, my dear son, that you have 
resumed your former pleasures, and seem to he returning to 
yourself. And yet you are still unhappy, and still avoid 
our society. For some time I was lost in conjecture as to 
the cause of this ; but yesterday an idea struck me, and if 
it is well founded, I conjure you to avow it. Reserve on 
such a point would be not only useless, but draw down 
treble misery on us all.” 

I trembled violently at his exordium, and my father con- 
• tinued — 

cc I confess, my son, that I have always looked forward 
to your marriage with our dear Elizabeth as the tie of our 
domestic comfort, and the stay of my declining years. You 
were attached to each other from your earliest infancy; 
you studied together, and appeared, in dispositions and 
tastes, entirely suited to one another. But so blind is the 
experience of man, that what I conceived to be the best 
assistants to my plan, may have entirely destroyed it. You, 
perhaps, regard her as your sister, without any wish that 
she might become your wife. Nay, you may have met 
with another whom you may love; and, considering yourself 
as bound in honour to Elizabeth, this struggle may occasion 
the poignant misery which you appear to feel.” 

" My dear father, re-assure yourself.** I love my cousin 
tenderly and sincerely. I never saw any woman who ex¬ 
cited, as Elizabeth does, my warmest admiration and affec¬ 
tion. My future hopes and prospects are entirely bound 
up in the expectation of our union.” 

“ The expression of your sentiments of this subject, my 
dear Victor, gives me more pleasure than I have for some 
time experienced. If you feel thus, we shall assuredly be 
happy, however present events may cast a gloom over us. 
But it is this gloom which appears to have taken so strong 
a hold of your mind, that I wish to dissipate. Tell me, 
therefore, whether you object to an immediate solemnis¬ 
ation of the mar™ age. We have been unfortunate, and 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


133 


recent events have drawn us from that every-day tranquil¬ 
lity befitting my years and infirmities. You are younger; 
yet I do not suppose, possessed as you are of a competent 
fortune, that an early marriage would at all interfere with 
any future plans of honour and utility that you may have 
formed. Do not suppose, however, that I wish to dictate 
happiness to you, or that a delay on your part would cause 
me any serious uneasiness. Interpret my words with can¬ 
dour, and answer me, I conjure you, with confidence and 
sincerity.” 

I listened to my father in silence, and remained for some 
time incapable of offering any reply. I revolved rapidly 
in my mind a multitude of thoughts, and endeavoured to 
arrive at some conclusion. Alas ! to me the idea of an 
immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror 
and dismay. I was bound by a solemn promise, which 
I had not yet fulfilled, and dared not break ; or, if I did, 
what manifold miseries might not impend over me and my 
devoted family ! Could I enter into a festival with this 
deadly weight yet hanging round my neck, and bowing me 
to the ground. I must perform my engagement, and 
let the monster depart with his mate, before I allowed my¬ 
self to enjoy the delight of an union from which I expected 
peace. 

I remembered also the necessity imposed upon me of 
either journeying to England, or entering into a long cor¬ 
respondence with those philosophers of that country, whose 
knowledge and discoveries were of indispensable use to 
me in my present undertaking. The latter method of ob¬ 
taining the desired intelligence was dilatory and unsatis¬ 
factory : besides, I had an insurmountable aversion to the 
idea of engaging myself in my loathsome task in my 
father’s house, while in habits of familiar intercourse with 
those I loved. I knew that a thousand fearful accidents 
might occur, the slightest of which would disclose a tale to 
thrill all connected with me with horror. I was aware also 
that I should often lose all self-command, all capacity of 
hiding the harrowing sensations that would possess me 
during the progress of my unearthly occupation. I must 
absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once 

k 3 


134 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


commenced, it would quickly be achieved, and I might be 
restored to my family in peace and happiness. My pro¬ 
mise fulfilled, the monster would depart for ever. Or (so 
my fond fancy imaged) some accident might meanwhile 
occur to destroy him, and put an end to my slavery for ever. 

These feelings dictated my answer to my father. I ex¬ 
pressed a wish to visit England ; but, concealing the true 
reasons of this request, I clothed my desires under a guise 
which excited no suspicion, while I urged my desire with an 
earnestness that easily induced my father to comply. After 
so long a period of an absorbing melancholy, that resembled 
madness in its intensity and effects, he was glad to find that 
I was capable of taking pleasure in the idea of such a jour¬ 
ney ; and he hoped that change of scene and varied amuse¬ 
ment would, before my return, have restored me entirely to 
myself. 

The duration of my absence was left to my own choice; 
a few months, or at most a year, was the period contem¬ 
plated. One paternal kind precaution he had taken to 
ensure my having a companion. Without previously com¬ 
municating with me, he had, in concert with Elizabeth, 
arranged that Clerval should join me at Strasburgh. This 
interfered with the solitude I coveted for the prosecution of 
my task ; yet at the commencement of my journey the pre¬ 
sence of my friend could in no way be an impediment, and 
truly I rejoiced that thus I should be saved many hours of 
lonely, maddening reflection. Nay, Henry might stand 
between me and the intrusion of my foe. If I were alone, 
would he not at times force his abhorred presence on me, 
to remind me of my task, or to contemplate its progress ? 

To England, therefore, I was bound, and it was under¬ 
stood that my union with Elizabeth should take place im¬ 
mediately on my return. My father’s age rendered him 
extremely averse to delay. For myself, there was one 
reward I promised myself from my detested toils—one 
consolation for my unparalleled sufferings; it was the 
prospect of that day when, enfranchised from my miserable 
slavery, I might claim Elizabeth, and forget the past in 
my union with her. 

I now made arrangements for my journey; but one 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


135 


feeling haunted me, which filled me with fear and agitation. 
During my absence I should leave my friends unconscious 
of the existence of their enemy, and unprotected from his 
attacks, exasperated as he might be by my departure. But 
he had promised to follow me wherever I might go; and 
would he not accompany me to England ? This imagination 
was dreadful in itself, but soothing, inasmuch as it sup¬ 
posed the safety of my friends. I was agonised with the 
idea of the possibility that the reverse of this might happen. 
But through the whole period during which I was the slave 
of my creature, I allowed myself to be governed by the 
impulses of the moment; and my present sensations strongly 
intimated that the fiend would follow me, and exempt my 
family from the danger of his machinations. 

It was in the latter end of September that I again quitted 
my native country. My journey had been my own sug¬ 
gestion, and Elizabeth, therefore, acquiesced: but she was 
filled with disquiet at the idea of my suffering, away from 
her, the inroads of misery and grief. It had been her care 
which provided me a companion in Clerval—and yet a 
man is blind to a thousand minute circumstances, which 
call forth a woman’s sedulous attention. She longed to bid 
me hasten my return, — a thousand conflicting emotions 
rendered her mute, as she bade me a tearful silent fare¬ 
well. 

I threw myself into the carriage that was to convey me 
away, hardly knowing whither 1 was going, and careless 
of what was passing around. I remembered only, and it 
was with a bitter anguish that I reflected on it, to order 
that my chemical instruments should be packed to go with 
me. Filled with dreary imaginations, I passed through 
many beautiful and majestic scenes; but my eyes were 
fixed and unobserving. I could only think of the bourne 
of my travels, and the work which was to occupy me whilst 
they endured. 

After some days spent in listless indolence, during which 
I traversed many leagues, I arrived at Strasburgh, where J 
"waited two days for Clerval. He came. Alas, how great 
was the contrast between us ! He was alive to every new 
scene; joyful when he saw the beauties of the setting sun, 

k 4 


1 36 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


and more happy when he beheld it rise, and recommence a 
new day. He pointed out to me the shifting colours of the 
landscape, and the appearances of the sky. “ This is what 
it is to live,” he cried; “now I enjoy existence ! But you, 
my dear Frankenstein, wherefore are you desponding and 
sorrowful?” In truth, I was occupied by gloomy thoughts, 
and neither saw the descent of the evening star, nor the 
golden sunrise reflected in the Rhine.—And you, my 
friend, would he far more amused with the journal of 
Clerval, who observed the scenery with an eye of feeling 
and delight, than in listening to my reflections. I, a miser¬ 
able wretch, haunted by a curse that shut up every avenue 
to enjoyment. 

We had agreed to descend the Rhine in a boat from 
Strasburgh to Rotterdam, whence we might take shipping 
for London. During this voyage, we passed many willowy 
islands, and saw several beautiful towns. We stayed a day 
at Manheim, and, on the fifth from our departure from 
Strasburgh, arrived at Mayence. The course of the Rhine 
below Mayence becomes much more picturesque. The river 
descends rapidly, and winds between hills, not high, but 
steep, and of beautiful forms. We saw many ruined castles 
standing on the edges of precipices, surrounded by black 
woods, high and inaccessible. This part of the Rhine, 
indeed, presents a singularly variegated landscape. In one 
spot you view rugged hills, ruined castles overlooking tre¬ 
mendous precipices, with the dark Rhine rushing beneath ; 
and, on the sudden turn of a promontory, flourishing vine¬ 
yards, with green sloping banks, and a meandering river, 
and populous towns occupy the scene. 

We travelled at the time of the vintage, and heard the 
song of the labourers, as we glided down the stream. Even 
I, depressed in mind, and my spirits continually agitated 
by gloomy feelings, even I was pleased. I lay at the bot¬ 
tom of the boat, and, as I gazed on the cloudless blue sky, 
I seemed to drink in a tranquillity to which I had long been 
a stranger. And if these were my sensations, who can 
describe those of Henry ? He felt as if he had been trans¬ 
ported to Fairy-land, and enjoyed a happiness seldom tasted 
by man. “ I have seen,” he said, <c the most beautiful 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 137 

scenes of my own country; I have visited the lakes of Lu¬ 
cerne and Uri, where the snowy mountains descend almost 
perpendicularly to the water, casting black and impenetrable 
shades, which would cause a gloomy and mournful appear¬ 
ance, were it not for the most verdant islands that relieve 
the eye by their gay appearance; I have seen this lake 
agitated by a tempest, when the wind tore up whirlwinds 
of water, and gave you an idea of what the water-spout 
must be on the great ocean ; and the waves dash with fury 
the base of the mountain, where the priest and his mis¬ 
tress were overwhelmed by an avalanche, and where their 
dying voices are still said to be heard amid the pauses of 
the nightly wind; I have seen the mountains of La Valais, 
and the Pays de Vaud : but this country, Victor, pleases 
me more than all those wonders. The mountains of Swit¬ 
zerland are more majestic and strange; but there is a charm 
in the banks of this divine river, that I never before saw 
equalled. Look at that castle which overhangs yon preci¬ 
pice ; and that also on the island, almost concealed amongst 
the foliage of those lovely trees ; and now that group of 
labourers coming from among their vines ; and that village 
half hid in the recess of the mountain. Oh, surely, the 
spirit that inhabits and guards this place has a soul more 
in harmony with man, than those who pile the glacier, or 
retire to the inaccessible peaks of the mountains of our own 
country/' 

Clerval! beloved friend ! even now it delights me to 
record your words, and to dwell on the praise of which you 
are so eminently deserving. He was a being formed in 
the “ very poetry of nature.” His wild and enthusiastic 
imagination was chastened by the sensibility of his heart. 
His soul overflowed with ardent affections, and his friend¬ 
ship was of that devoted and wondrous nature that the 
worldly-minded teach us to look for only in the imagin¬ 
ation. But even human sympathies were not sufficient to 
satisfy his eager mind. The scenery of external nature, 
which others regard only with admiration, he loved with 
ardour:— 


138 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


———“ The sounding cataract 
Haunted him like a passion : the tall rock, 

The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood. 

Their colours and their forms, were then to him 
An appetite ; a feeling, and a love, 

That had no need of a remoter charm. 

By thought supplied, or any interest 
Unborrow’d from the eye.”* 

And where does he now exist ? Is this gentle and lovely 
being lost for ever ? Has this mind, so replete with ideas, 
imaginations fanciful and magnificent, which formed a 
world, whose existence depended on the life of its creator ; 
—has this mind perished? Does it now only exist in my 
memory? No, it is not thus; your form so divinely wrought, 
and beaming with beauty, has decayed, but your spirit still 
visits and consoles your unhappy friend. 

Pardon this gush of sorrow; these ineffectual words are 
but a slight tribute to the unexampled worth of Henry, 
but they soothe my heart, overflowing with the anguish 
which his remembrance creates. I will proceed with my 
tale. 

Beyond Cologne we descended to the plains of Holland ; 
and we resolved to post the remainder of our way; for the 
wind was contrary, and the stream of the river was too 
gentle to aid us. 

Our journey here lost the interest arising from beautiful 
scenery; but we arrived in a few days at Rotterdam, whence 
we proceeded by sea to England. It was on a clear morn¬ 
ing, in the latter days of December, that I first saw the 
white cliffs of Britain. The banks of the Thames pre¬ 
sented a new scene ; they were flat, but fertile, and almost 
every town was marked by the remembrance of some story. 
We saw Tilbury Fort, and remembered the Spanish ar¬ 
mada; Gravesend, Woolwich, and Greenwich, places which 
I had heard of even in my country. 

At length we saw the numerous steeples of London, 
St. Paul’s towering above all, and the Tower famed in 
English history. 


* Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey.. 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


139 


CHAPTER XIX. 

London was our present point of rest; we determined to 
remain several months in this wonderful and celebrated 
city. Clerval desired the intercourse of the men of genius 
and talent who flourished at this time; but this was with 
me a secondary object; I was principally occupied with the 
means of obtaining the information necessary for the com¬ 
pletion of my promise, and quickly availed myself of the 
letters of introduction that I had brought with me, ad¬ 
dressed to the most distinguished natural philosophers. 

If this journey had taken place during my days of study 
and happiness, it would have afforded me inexpressible 
pleasure. But a blight had come over my existence, and 
I only visited these people for the sake of the information 
they might give me on the subject in which my interest 
was so terribly profound. Company was irksome to me; 
when alone, I could fill my mind with the sights of heaven 
and earth; the voice of Henry soothed me, and I could 
thus cheat myself into a transitory peace. But busy unin¬ 
teresting joyous faces brought back despair to my heart. I 
saw an insurmountable barrier placed between me and my 
fellow-men ; this barrier was sealed with the blood of Wil¬ 
liam and Justine; and to reflect on the events connected 
with those names filled my soul with anguish. 

But in Clerval I saw the image of my former self; he 
was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruc¬ 
tion. The difference of manners which he observed was to 
him an inexhaustible source of instruction and amusement. 
He was also pursuing an object he had long had in view. 
His design was to visit India, in the belief that he had in 
his knowledge of its various languages, and in the views he 
had taken of its society, the means of materially assisting 
the progress of European colonisation and trade. In Britain 
only could he further the execution of his plan. He was for 
ever busy; and the only check to his enjoyments was my 
sorrowful and dejected mind. I tried to conctal this as 
much as possible, that I might not debar him from the 


140 


FRANKENSTEIN ,‘ OR, 


pleasures natural to one, who was entering on a new scene 
of life, undisturbed by any care or bitter recollection. I 
often refused to accompany him, alleging another engage¬ 
ment, that I might remain alone. I now also began to 
collect the materials necessary for my new creation, and 
this was to me like the torture of single drops of water 
continually falling on the head. Every thought that was 
devoted to it was an extreme anguish, and every word that 
I spoke in allusion to it caused my lips to quiver, and my 
heart to palpitate. 

After passing some months in London, we received a 
letter from a person in Scotland, who had formerly been 
our visiter at Geneva. He mentioned the beauties of his 
native country, and asked us if those were not sufficient 
allurements to induce us to prolong our journey as far north 
as Perth, where he resided. Clerval eagerly desired to 
accept this invitation; and I, although I abhorred society, 
wished to view again mountains and streams, and all the 
wondrous works with which Nature adorns her chosen 
dwelling-places. 

We had arrived in England at the beginning of October, 
and it was now February. We accordingly determined to 
commence our journey towards the north at the expiration 
of another month. In this expedition we did not intend 
to follow the great road to Edinburgh, but to visit Windsor, 
Oxford, Matlock, and the Cumberland lakes, resolving to 
arrive at the completion of this tour about the end of July. 
I packed up my chemical instruments, and the materials I 
had collected, resolving to finish my labours in some obscure 
nook in the northern highlands of Scotland. 

We quitted London on the 27th of March, and remained 
a few days at Windsor, rambling in its beautiful forest. 
This was a new scene to us mountaineers; the majestic 
oaks, the quantity of game, and the herds of stately deer, 
were all novelties to us. 

From thence we proceeded to Oxford. As we entered 
this city, our minds were filled with the remembrance of 
the events that had been transacted there more than a 
century and a half before. It was here that Charles I. had 
collected his forces. This city had remained faithful to 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


141 


him, after the whole nation had forsaken his cause to join 
the standard of parliament and liberty. The memory of 
that unfortunate king, and his companions, the amiable 
Falkland, the insolent Goring, his queen, and son, gave a 
peculiar interest to every part of the city, which they might 
be supposed to have inhabited. The spirit of elder days 
found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its foot¬ 
steps. If these feelings had not found an imaginary gra¬ 
tification, the appearance of the city had yet in itself sufficient 
beauty to obtain our admiration. The colleges are ancient 
and picturesque; the streets are almost magnificent; and 
the lovely Isis, which flows beside it through meadows of 
exquisite verdure, is spread forth into a placid expanse of 
waters, which reflects its majestic assemblage of towers, and 
spires, and domes, embosomed among aged trees. 

I enjoyed this scene; and yet my enjoyment was em¬ 
bittered both by the memory of the past, and the anticipation 
of the future. I was formed for peaceful happiness. During 
my youthful days discontent never visited my mind; and 
if I was ever overcome by ennui, the sight of what is 
beautiful in nature, or the study of what is excellent and 
sublime in the productions of man, could always interest 
my heart, and communicate elasticity to my spirits. But 
I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul ; and I 
felt then that I should survive to exhibit, what I shall soon 
cease to be — a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, 
pitiable to others, and intolerable to myself. 

We passed a considerable period at Oxford, rambling 
among its environs, and endeavouring to identify every spot 
which might relate to the most animating epoch of English 
history. Our little voyages of discovery were often pro¬ 
longed by the successive objects that presented themselves. 
We visited the tomb of the illustrious Hampden, and the 
field on "which that patriot fell. For a moment my soul 
was elevated from its debasing and miserable fears, to con¬ 
template the divine ideas of liberty and self-sacrifice, of 
which these sights were the monuments and the remem¬ 
brancers. For an instant I dared to shake off my chains, 
and look around me with a free and lofty spirit; but the 


142 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


iron had eaten into my flesh, and I sank again, trembling 
and hopeless, into my miserable self. 

We left Oxford with regret, and proceeded to Matlock, 
which was our next place of rest. The country in the 
neighbourhood of this village resembled, to a greater degree, 
the scenery of Switzerland; but every thing is on a lower 
scale, and the green hills want the crown of distant white 
Alps, which always attendonthe piny mountains of my native 
country. We visited the wondrous cave, and the little 
cabinets of natural history, where the curiosities are disposed 
in the same manner as in the collections at Servox and Cha- 
mounix. The latter name made me tremble, when pro¬ 
nounced by Henry; and I hastened to quit Matlock, with 
which that terrible scene was thus associated. 

From Derby, still journeying northward, we passed two 
months in Cumberland and Westmorland. I could now 
almost fancy myself among the Swiss mountains. The 
little patches of snow which yet lingered on the northern 
sides of the mountains, the lakes, and the dashing of the 
rocky streams, were all familiar and dear sights to me. 
Here also we made some acquaintances, who almost con¬ 
trived to cheat me into happiness. The delight of Clerval 
was proportionably greater than mine; his mind expanded 
in the company of men of talent, and he found in his own 
nature greater capacities and resources than he could have 
imagined himself to have possessed while he associated with 
his inferiors. “ I could pass my life here,” said he to me; 
“ and among these mountains I should scarcely regret 
Switzerland and the Rhine.” 

But he found that a traveller’s life is one that includes 
much pain amidst its enjoyments. His feelings are for 
ever on the stretch ; and when he begins to sink into repose, 
he finds himself obliged to quit that on which he rests in 
pleasure for something new, which again engages his at¬ 
tention, and which also he forsakes for other novelties. 

We had scarcely visited the various lakes of Cumberland 
and Westmorland, and conceived an affection for some of 
the inhabitants, when the period of our appointment with 
our Scotch friend approached, and we left them to travel on. 
For my own part X was not sorry. I had now neglected 


THE 3I0DERN PROMETHEUS. 


143 


my promise for some time, and I feared the effects of the 
daemon’s disappointment. He might remain in Switzerland, 
and wreak his vengeance on my relatives. This idea pur¬ 
sued me, and tormented me at every moment from which 
I might otherwise have snatched repose and peace. I 
waited for my letters with feverish impatience : if they -were 
delayed, I was miserable, and overcome by a thousand fears ‘ 
and when they arrived, and I saw the superscription of 
Elizabeth or my father, I hardly dared to read and ascertain 
my fate. Sometimes I thought that the fiend followed me, 
and might expedite my remissness by murdering my com¬ 
panion. When these thoughts possessed me, I would not 
quit Henry for a moment, but followed him as his shadow, 
to protect him from the fancied rage of his destroyer. 
I felt as if I had committed some great crime, the con¬ 
sciousness of which haunted me. 1 was guiltless, but I 
had indeed drawn down a horrible curse upon my head, as 
mortal as that of crime. 

I visited Edinburgh with languid eyes and mind; and 
yet that city might have interested the most unfortunate 
being. Clerval did not like it so well as Oxford: for the 
antiquity of the latter city was more pleasing to him. But 
the beauty and regularity of the new town of Edinburgh, 
its romantic castle, and its environs, the most delightful in 
the world, Arthur’s Seat, St. Bernard’s Well, and the Pent- 
land Hills, compensated him for the change, and filled him 
with cheerfulness and admiration. But I was impatient to 
arrive at the termination of my journey. 

We left Edinburgh in a week, passing through Coupar, 
St. Andrew’s, and along the banks of the Tay, to Perth, 
where our friend expected us. But I was in no mood to 
laugh and talk with strangers, or enter into their feelings or 
plans with the good humour expected from a guest; and 
accordingly I told Clerval that I wished to make the tour of 
Scotland alone. “ Do you,” said I, “ enjoy yourself, and 
let this be our rendezvous. I may be absent a month or 
two ; but do not interfere with my motions, I entreat you : 
leave me to peace and solitude for a short time ; and when 
I return, I hope it will be with a lighter heart, more con- 
<?enial to your own temper.” 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


JL44 

Henry wished to dissuade me; but, seeing me bent on 
Ibis plan, ceased to remonstrate. He entreated me to write 
often. I had rather be with you,” he said, “ in your 
solitary rambles, than with these Scotch people, whom I do 
not know: hasten then, my dear friend, to return, that I 
may again feel myself somewhat at home, which I cannot 
do in your absence.” 

Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit 
some remote spot of Scotland, and finish my work in soli¬ 
tude. I did not doubt but that the monster followed me, 
and would discover himself to me when I should have 
finished, that he might receive his companion. 

With this resolution I traversed the northern highlands, 
and fixed on one of the remotest of the Orkneys as the scene 
of my labours. It was a place fitted for such a work, being 
hardly more than a rock, whose high sides were continually 
beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely 
affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for 
its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt 
and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare. 
Vegetables and bread, when they indulged in such luxuries, 
and even fresh water, was to be procured from the main 
land, which was about five miles distant. 

On the whole island there were but three miserable huts, 
and one of these was vacant when I arrived. This I hired. 
It contained hut two rooms, and these exhibited all the 
squalidness of the most miserable penury. The thatch 
had fallen in, the walls were unplastered, and the door was 
off its hinges. I ordered it to be repaired, bought some 
furniture, and took possession ; an incident which would, 
doubtless, have occasioned some surprise, had not all the 
senses of the cottagers been benumbed by want and squalid 
poverty. As it was, I lived ungazed at and unmolested, 
hardly thanked for the pittance of food and clothes which 
I gave ; so much does suffering blunt even the coarsest 
sensations of men. 

In this retreat I devoted the morning to labour; but in 
the evening, when the weather permitted, I walked on the 
stony beach of the sea, to listen to the waves as they roared 
and dashed at my feet. It was a monotonous yet ever. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


145 


changing scene. I thought of Switzerland; it was far 
different from this desolate and appalling landscape. Its 
hills are covered with vines, and its cottages are scattered 
thickly in the plains. Its fair lakes reflect a blue and gentle 
sky; and, when troubled by the winds, their tumult is but 
as the play of a lively infant, when compared to the roar¬ 
ings of the giant ocean. 

In this manner I distributed my occupations when I first 
arrived; but, as I proceeded in my labour, it became every 
day more horrible and irksome to me. Sometimes I could 
not prevail on myself to enter my laboratory for several 
days; and at other times I toiled day and night in order 
to complete my work. It was, indeed, a filthy process in 
which I was engaged. During my first experiment, a kind 
of enthusiastic frenzy had blinded me to the horror of my 
employment; my mind was intently fixed on the consum¬ 
mation of my labour, and my eyes were shut to the horror 
of my proceedings. But now I w r ent to it in v cold blood, 
and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands. 

Thus situated, employed in the most detestable occupa¬ 
tion, immersed in a solitude where nothing could for an 
instant call my attention from the actual scene in which I 
W'as engaged, my spirits became unequal; I grew restless 
and nervous. Every moment I feared to meet my per¬ 
secutor. Sometimes I sat with my eyes fixed on the ground, 
fearing to raise them, lest they should encounter the object 
which I so much dreaded to behold. I feared to wander 
from the sight of my fellow-creatures, lest when alone he 
should come to claim his companion. * 

In the mean time I worked on, and my labour was 
already considerably advanced. I looked towards its com¬ 
pletion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not 
trust myself to question, but which was intermixed with 
obscure forebodings .of evil, that made my heart sicken in my 
bosom. 





146 


FRANKENSTEIN ,* OR, 


CHAPTER XX. 

I sat one evening in my laboratory ; the sun had set, and 
the moon was just rising from the sea; I had not sufficient 
light for my employment, and I remained idle, in a pause 
of consideration of whether I should leave my labour for 
the night, or hasten its conclusion by an unremitting at¬ 
tention to it. As I sat, a train of reflection occurred to 
me, which led me to consider the effects of what I was now 
doing. Three years before I was engaged in the same 
manner, and had created a fiend whose unparalleled bar¬ 
barity had desolated my heart, and filled it for ever with 
the bitterest remorse. I was now about to form another 
being, of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might 
become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, 
and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness. 
He had sworn to quit the neighbourhood of man, and hide 
himself in deserts; but she had not; and she, who in all 
probability was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, 
might refuse to comply with a compact made before her 
creation. They might even hate each other; the creature 
who already lived loathed his own deformity, and might 
he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came 
before his eyes in the female form ? She also might turn 
with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she 
might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the 
fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own*, 
species. 

Even if they were to leave Europe, and inhabit the de¬ 
serts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those 
sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, 
and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth, 
who might make the very existence of the species of man 
a condition precarious and full of terror. Had I right, for 
my own-benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting ge¬ 
nerations ? I had before been moved by the sophisms of 
the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 147 

fiendish threats: but now, for the first time, the wickedness 
of my promise burst upon me ; I shuddered to think that 
future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness 
had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, per¬ 
haps, of the existence of the whole human race. 

1 trembled, and my heart failed within me ; when, on 
looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon, the dsemon at 
the casement. A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips as he gazed 
on me, where I sat fulfilling the task which he had allotted 
to me. Yes, he had followed me in my travels ; he had 
loitered in forests, hid himself in caves, or taken refuge in 
wide and desert heaths ; and he now came to mark my pro¬ 
gress, and claim the fulfilment of my promise. 

As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the ut¬ 
most extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a 
sensation of madness on my promise of creating another 
like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the 
thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me de¬ 
stroy the creature on whose future existence he depended 
for happiness, and, with a howl of devilish despair and re¬ 
venge, withdrew. 

I left the room, and, locking the door, made a solemn 
vow in my own heart never to resume my labours ; and 
then, with trembling steps, I sought my own apartment. 
I was alone; none were near me to dissipate the gloom, 
and relieve me from the sickening oppression of the most 
terrible reveries. 

Several hours passed, and I remained near my window 
gazing on the sea; it was almost motionless, for the winds 
were hushed, and all nature reposed under the eye of the 
quiet moon. A few fishing vessels alone specked the water, 
and now and then the gentle breeze wafted the sound of 
voices, as the fishermen called to one another. I felt the 
silence, although I was hardly conscious of its extreme 
profundity, until my ear was suddenly arrested by the 
paddling of oars near the shore, and a person landed close 
to my house. 

In a few minutes after, I heard the creaking of my door, 
as if some one endeavoured to open it softly. I trembled 
from head to foot; I felt a presentiment of who it was, and 


148 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


wished to rouse one of the peasants who dwelt in a cottage 
not far from mine ; but I was overcome by the sensation 
of helplessness, so often felt in frightful dreams, when you 
in vain endeavour to fly from an impending danger, and 
was rooted to the spot. 

Presently I heard the sound of footsteps along the pas¬ 
sage ; the door opened, and the wretch whom I dreaded 
appeared. Shutting the door, he approached me, and said, 
in a smothered voice — 

You have destroyed the work which you began ; w r hat 
is it that you intend ? Do you dare to break your promise ? 
1 have endured toil and' misery : I left Switzerland with 
you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its wil¬ 
low islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt 
many months in the heaths of England, and among the 
deserts of Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, 
and cold, and hunger ; do you dare destroy my hopes ?” 

“ Begone! I do break my promise; never will I create 
another like yourself, equal in deformity and wickedness.” 

“ Slave, I before reasoned with you, but you have proved 
yourself unworthy of my condescension. Remember that I 
have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make 
you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. 
You are my creator, but I am your master; — obey ! ” 

“ The hour of my irresolution is past, and the period 
of your power is arrived. Your threats cannot move me 
to do an act of wickedness ; but they confirm me in a de¬ 
termination of not creating you a companion in vice. Shall 
I, in cool blood, set loose upon the earth a daemon, whose 
delight is in death and wretchedness ? Begone! I am firm, 
and your w r ords w T ill only exasperate my rage.” 

The monster saw my determination in my face, and 
gnashed his teeth in the impotence of anger. “ Shall each 
man,” cried he, “ find a wife for his bosom, and each beast 
have his mate, and I be alone ? I had feelings of affection, 
and they were requited by detestation and scorn. Man ! 
you may hate ; but bew r are ! your hours will pass in dread 
and misery, and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish 
from you your happiness for ever. Are you to be happy, 
white I grovel in the intensity of my wretchedness? You 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 

can blast my other passions; but revenge remains — __ 
venge, henceforth dearer than light or food ! I may die ; 
but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun 
that gazes on your misery. Beware; for I am fearless, 
and therefore powerful. I will watch with the wiliness of 
a snake, that I may sting with its venom. Man, you shall 
repent of the injuries you inflict.” 

(e Devil, cease; and do not poison the air with these 
sounds of malice. I have declared my resolution to you, 
and I am no coward to bend beneath words. Leave me; 
I am inexorable.” 

“ It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you 
on your wedding-night.” 

I started forward, and exclaimed, “ Villain ! before you 
sign my death-warrant, be sure that you are yourself safe.” 

I would have seized him ; but he eluded me, and 
quitted the house with precipitation. In a few moments 
I saw him in his boat, which shot across the waters with 
an arrowy swiftness, and was soon lost amidst the waves. 

All was again silent ; but his words rung in my ears. I 
burned with rage to pursue the murderer of my peace, and 
precipitate him into the ocean. I walked up and down my 
room hastily and perturbed, while my imagination conjured 
up a thousand images to torment and sdng me. Why had 
I not followed him, and closed with him in mortal strife ? 
But I had suffered him to depart, and he had directed his 
course towards the main land. I shuddered to think who 
might be the next victim sacrificed to his insatiate revenge. 
And then I thought again of his words — “ I will be with 
you on your wedding-nighty That then was the period 
fixed for the fulfilment of my destiny. In that hour I 
should die, and at once satisfy and extinguish his malice. 
The prospect did not move me to fear ; yet when I thought 
of my beloved Elizabeth, — of her tears and endless sorrow, 
when she should find her lover so barbarously snatched 
from her, — tears, the first I had shed for many months, 
streamed from my eyes, and I resolved not to fall before 
my enemy without a bitter struggle. 

The night passed away, and the sun rose from the ocean ; 
my feelings became calmer, if it may be called calmness, 

l 3 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


L*>0 

when the violence of rage sinks into the depths of despair. 
I left the house, the horrid scene of the last night’s con¬ 
tention, and walked on the beach of the sea, which I almost 
regarded as an insuperable barrier between me and my 
fellow-creatures ; nay, a wish that such should prove the 
fact stole across me. I desired that I might pass my life 
on that barren rock, wearily, it is true, but uninterrupted 
by any sudden shock of misery. If I returned, it was to 
be sacrificed, or to see those whom I most loved die under 
the grasp of a daemon whom I had myself created. 

I walked about the isle like a restless spectre, separated 
from all it loved, and miserable in the separation. When 
it became noon, and the sun rose higher, I lay down on 
the grass, and was overpowered by a deep sleep. I had 
been awake the whole of the preceding night, my nerves 
were agitated, and my eyes inflamed by watching and 
misery. The sleep into which I now sunk refreshed me ; 
and when I awoke, I again felt as if I belonged to a race 
of human beings like myself, and I began to reflect upon 
what had passed with greater composure ; yet still the words 
of the fiend rung in my ears like a death-knell, they ap¬ 
peared like a dream, yet distinct and oppressive as a reality. 

The sun had far descended, and I still sat on the shore, 
satisfying my appetite, which had become ravenous, with 
an oaten cake, when I saw a fishing-boat land close to me, 
and one of the men brought me a packet; it contained let¬ 
ters from Geneva, and one from Clerval, entreating me to 
join him. He said that he was wearing away his time 
fruitlessly where he was ; that letters from the friends 
he had formed in London desired his return to complete 
the negotiation they had entered into for his Indian enter¬ 
prise. He could not any longer delay his departure ; but 
as his journey to London might be followed, even sooner 
than he now conjectured, by his longer voyage, he entreated 
me to bestow as much of my society on him as I could 
spare. He besought me, therefore, to leave my solitary 
isle, and to meet him at Perth, that we might proceed 
southwards together. This letter in a degree recalled me 
to life, and I determined to quit my island at the expiration 
of two days. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


151 


Yet, "before I departed, there was a task to perform, on 
which I shuddered to reflect: I must pack up my chemical 
instruments ; and for that purpose I must enter the room 
which had been the scene of my odious work, and I must 
handle those utensils, the sight of which was sickening to 
me. The next morning, at daybreak, I summoned suf¬ 
ficient courage, and unlocked the door of my laboratory. 
The remains of the half-finished creature, whom I had 
destroyed, lay scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if 
j[ had mangled the living flesh of a human being. I paused 
to collect myself, and then entered the chamber. With 
trembling hand I conveyed the instruments out of the 
room; but I reflected that I ought not to leave the relics 
of my work to excite the horror and suspicion of the pea¬ 
sants ; and I accordingly put them into a basket, with a 
great quantity of stones, and, laying them up, determined 
to throw them into the sea that very night; and in the 
mean time I sat upon the beach, employed in cleaning and 
arranging my chemical apparatus. 

Nothing could be more complete than the alteration that 
had taken place in my feelings since the night of the ap¬ 
pearance of the daemon. I had before regarded my promise 
with a gloomy despair, as a thing that, with whatever con¬ 
sequences, must be fulfilled ; but I now felt as if a film 
had been taken from before my eyes, and that I, for the 
first time, saw clearly. The idea of renewing my labours 
did not for one instant occur to me; the threat I had heard 
weighed on my thoughts, but I did not reflect that a vo¬ 
luntary act of mine could avert it. I had resolved in my 
own mind, that to create another like the fiend I had first 
made would be an act of the basest and most atrocious 
selfishness; and I banished from my mind every thought 
that could lead to a different conclusion. 

Between two and three in the morning the moon rose; 
and I then, putting my basket aboard a little skiff, sailed 
out about four miles from the shore. The scene was per¬ 
fectly solitary: a few boats were returning towards land, 
but I sailed away from them. I felt as if I was about the 
commission of a dreadful crime, and avoided with shud¬ 
dering anxiety any encounter with my fellow-creatures. At 

l 4 


1 52 FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

one time the moon, which had before been clear, was sud¬ 
denly overspread by a thick cloud, and I took advantage 
of the moment of darkness, and cast my basket into the 
sea : I listened to the gurgling sound as it sunk, and then 
sailed away from the spot. The sky became clouded; but 
the air was pure, although chilled by the north-east breeze 
that was then rising. But it refreshed me, and filled me 
with such agreeable sensations, that I resolved to prolong 
my stay on the water ; and, fixing the rudder in a direct 
position, stretched myself at the bottom of the boat. Clouds 
hid the moon, every thing was obscure, and I heard only 
the sound of the boat, as its keel cut through the waves ; 
the murmur lulled me, and in a short time I slept soundly. 

I do not know how long I remained in this situation, 
but when I awoke I found that the sun had already mounted 
considerably. The wind was high, and the waves con¬ 
tinually threatened the safety of my little skiff., I found 
that the wind was north-east, and must have driven me far 
from the coast from which I had embarked. I endeavoured 
to change my course, but quickly found that, if I again 
made the attempt, the boat would be instantly filled with 
water. Thus situated, my only resource was to drive before 
the wind. I confess that I felt a few sensations of terror. 
I had no compass with me, and was so slenderly acquainted 
with the geography of this part of the world, that the sun 
was of little benefit to me. I might be driven into the 
wide Atlantic, and feel all the tortures of starvation, or be 
swallowed up in the immeasurable waters that roared and 
buffeted around me. I had already been out many hours, 
and felt the torment of a burning thirst, a prelude to my 
other sufferings. I looked on the heavens, which were 
covered by clouds that flew before the wind, only to be 
replaced by others: I looked upon the sea, it was to be my 
grave. “ Fiend,” I exclaimed, <e your task is already ful¬ 
filled !” I thought of Elizabeth, of my father, and of Cler- 
val ; all left behind, on whom the monster might satisfy 
his sanguinary and merciless passions. This idea plunged 
me into a reverie, so despairing and frightful, that even 
now, when the scene is on the point of closing before me 
for ever, I shudder to reflect on it. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. ' ( 153 

Some hours passed thus ; hut by degrees, as the sun 
declined towards the horizon, the wind died away into a 
gentle breeze, and the sea became free from breakers.' But 
these gave place to a heavy swell: I felt sick, and hardly 
able to hold the rudder, when suddenly I saw a line of high 
land towards the south. 

Almost spent, as I was, by fatigue, and the dreadful 
suspense I endured for several hours, this sudden certainty 
of life rushed like a flood of warm joy to my heart, and 
tears gushed from my eyes. 

How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that 
clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery! I 
constructed another sail with a part of my dress, and eagerly 
steered my course towards the land. It had a wild and 
rocky appearance ; but, as I approached nearer, I easily 
perceived the traces of cultivation. I saw vessels near the 
shore, and found myself suddenly transported back to the 
neighbourhood of civilised man. I carefully traced the 
windings of the land, and hailed a steeple which I at length 
saw issuing from behind a small promontory. As I was in 
a state of extreme debility, I resolved to sail directly towards 
the town, as a place where I could most easily procure 
nourishment. Fortunately I had money with me. As I 
turned the promontory, I perceived a small neat town and 
a good harbour, which I entered, my heart bounding with 
joy at my unexpected escape. 

As I was occupied in fixing the boat and arranging the 
sails, several people crowded towards the spot. They seemed 
much surprised at my appearance ; hut, instead of offering 
me any assistance, whispered together with gestures that 
at any other time might have produced in me a slight 
sensation of alarm. As it was, I merely remarked that 
they spoke English ; and I therefore addressed them in that 
language: te My good friends,” said I, “ will you be so 
kind as to tell me the name of this town, and inform me 
where I am ? ” 

You will know that soon enough,” replied a man with 
with a hoarse voice. “ May he you are come to a place that 
will not prove much to your taste ; hut you will not be 
consulted as to your quarters, I promise you.” 


154 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


I was exceedingly surprised on receiving so rude an 
answer from a stranger ; and I was also disconcerted on 
perceiving the frowning and angry countenances of his 
companions. “ Why do you answer me so roughly ? ” I 
replied; “ surely it is not the custom of Englishmen to 
receive strangers so inhospitably.” 

“ I do not know/’ said the man, “ what the custom of 
the English may be ; but it is the custom of the Irish to hate 
villains.” 

While this strange dialogue continued, I perceived the 
crowd rapidly increase. Their faces expressed a mixture 
of curiosity and anger, which annoyed, and in some degree 
alarmed me. I enquired the way to the inn ; but no one 
replied. I then moved forward, and a murmuring sound 
arose from the crowd as they followed and surrounded me ; 
when an ill-looking man approaching, tapped me on the 
shoulder, and said, “ Come, Sir, you must follow me to 
Mr. Kir win’s, to give an account of yourself.” 

“ Who is Mr. Kirwin ? Why am I to give an account 
of myself? Is not this a free country?” 

“ Ay, sir, free enough for honest folks. Mr. Kirwin is 
,& magistrate; and you are to give an account of the death 
of a gentleman who was found murdered here last night.” 

This answer startled me; but I presently recovered 
myself. I was innocent ; that could easily be proved: 
.accordingly I followed my conductor in silence, and was 
led to one of the best houses in the town. I was ready to 
sink from fatigue and hunger ; but, being surrounded by a 
crowd, I thought it politic to rouse all my strength, that 
no physical debility might be construed into apprehension 
or conscious guilt. Little did I then expect the calamity 
that was in a few moments to overwhelm me, and extin¬ 
guish in horror and despair all fear of ignominy or death. 

I must pause here; for it requires all my fortitude to 
recall the memory of the frightful events which I am about 
to relate, in proper detail, to my recollection. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


155 


CHAPTER XXI. 

I was soon introduced into the presence of the magistrate, 
an old benevolent man, with calm and mild manners. He 
looked upon me, however, with some degree of severity: 
and then, turning towards my conductors, he asked who 
appeared as witnesses on this occasion. 

About half a dozen men came forward; and, one being 
selected by the magistrate, he deposed, that he had been 
out fishing the night before with his son and brother-in- 
law, Daniel Nugent, when, about ten o’clock, they observed 
a strong northerly blast rising, and they accordingly put 
in for port. It was a very dark night, as the moon h?,i 
not yet risen ; they did not land at the harbour, but, as 
they had been accustomed, at a creek about two miles below.. 
He walked on first, carrying a part of the fishing tackle, 
and his companions followed him at some distance. A* 
he was proceeding along the sands, he struck his foot 
against something, and fell at his length on the ground. 
His companions came up to assist him ; and, by the light 
of their lantern, they found that he had fallen on the body 
of a man, who was to all appearance dead. Their first 
supposition was, that it was the corpse of some person who 
had been drowned, and was thrown on shore by the waves ; 
but, on examination, they found that the clothes were not 
wet, and even that the body was not then cold. They 
instantly carried it to the cottage of an old woman near the 
spot, and endeavoured, but in vain, to restore it to life. 
It appeared to be a handsome young man, about five and 
twenty years of age. He had apparently been strangled ; 
for there was no sign of any violence, except the black 
mark of fingers on his neck. 

The first part of this deposition did not in the least 
interest me ; but when the mark of the fingers was men* 
tioned, I remembered the murder of my brother, and felt 
myself extremely agitated; my limbs trembled, and a mist 
came over my eyes, which obliged me to lean on a chair 


156 FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

for support. The magistrate observed me with a keen 
eye, and of course drew an unfavourable augury from my 
manner. 

The son confirmed his father’s account: but when Daniel 
Nugent wassailed, he swore positively that, just before the 
fall of his companion, he saw a boat, with a single man in 
it, at a short distance from the shore; and, as far as he 
could judge by the light of a few stars, it was the same boat 
in which I had just landed. 

A woman deposed, that she lived near the beach, and 
was standing at the door of her cottage, waiting for the re¬ 
turn of the fishermen, about an hour before she heard of 
the discovery of the body, when she saw a boat, with only 
One man in it, push off from that part of the shore where 
the corpse was afterwards found; 

Another woman confirmed the account of the fishermen 
having brought the body into her house; it was not cold. 
They put it into a bed, and rubbed it; and Daniel went to 
the town for an apothecary, but life was quite gone. 

Several other men were examined concerning my land¬ 
ing; and they agreed, that, with the strong north wind 
that had arisen during the night, it was very probable that 
I had beaten about for many hours, and had been obliged 
to return nearly to the same spot from which I had de¬ 
parted. Besides, they observed that it appeared that I had 
brought the body from another place, and it was likely, 
that as I did not appear to know the shore, I might 
nave put into the harbour ignorant of the distance of the 
town of * * * from the place where I had deposited 
the corpse. 

Mr.Kirwin, on hearing this evidence, desired that I should 
be taken into the room where the body lay for interment, 
that it might be observed what effect the sight of it would 
produce upon me. This idea was probably suggested by 
the extreme agitation I had exhibited when the mode of 
the murder had been described. I was accordingly con¬ 
ducted, by the magistrate and several other persons, to the 
inn. I could not help being struck by the strange coinci¬ 
dences that had taken place during this eventful night; but, 
knowing that I had been conversing with several persons in 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


157 


the island I had inhabited about the time that the body had 
been found, I was perfectly tranquil as to the consequences 
of the affair. 

I entered the room where the corpse lay, and was led up 
to the coffin. How can I describe my sensations on be¬ 
holding it ? I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I 
reflect on that terrible moment without shuddering and 
agony. The examination, the presence of the magistrate 
and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory, when 
I saw the lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before' 
me. I gasped for breath; and, throwing myself on the 
body, I exclaimed, “ Have my murderous machinations de¬ 
prived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have 
already destroyed; other victims await their destiny: but 
you, Clerval, my friend, my benefactor-” 

The human frame could no longer support the agonies 
that I endured, and I was carried out of the room in strong 
convulsions. 

A fever succeeded to this. 1 lay for two months on the 
point of death: my ravings, as I afterwards heard, were 
frightful; 1 called myself the murderer of William, of 
Justine, and of Clerval. Sometimes I entreated my at¬ 
tendants to assist me in the destruction of the fiend by 
whom I was tormented; and at others, I felt the fingers of 
the monster already grasping my neck, and screamed aloud 
with agony and terror. Fortunately, as I spoke my native 
language, Mr. Kirwin alone understood me; but my ges¬ 
tures and bitter cries were sufficient to affright the other 
witnesses. 

Why did I not die ? More miserable than man ever 
was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest? 
Death snatches away many blooming children, the only 
hopes of their doating parents: how many brides and 
youthful lovers have been one day in the bloom of health 
and hope, and the next a prey for worms and the decay 
of the tomb ! Of what materials was I made, that I could 
thus resist so many shocks, which, like the turning of the 
wheel, continually renewed the torture ? 

But I was doomed to live ; and, in two months, found 
myself as aw r aking from a dream, in a prison, stretched 



158 FRANKENSTEIN; OR, 

OR a wretched bed, surrounded by gaolers, turnkeys, bolts, 
and all the miserable apparatus of a dungeon. It was 
morning, I remember, when I thus awoke to understand¬ 
ing : I had forgotten the particulars of what had happened, 
and only felt as if some great misfortune had suddenly 
overwhelmed me; but when I looked around, and saw the 
barred windows, and the squalidness of the room in which 
I was, all flashed across my memory, and I groaned bit¬ 
terly. 

This sound disturbed an old woman who was sleeping in 
a chair beside me. She was a hired nurse, the wife of one 
of the turnkeys, and her countenance expressed all those 
bad qualities which often characterise that class. The lines 
of her face were hard and rude, like that of persons accus¬ 
tomed to see without sympathising in sights of misery. 
Her tone expressed her entire indifference; she addressed 
me in English, and the voice struck me as one that I had 
heard during my sufferings: — 

“ Are you better now, sir ? ” said she. 

I replied in the same language, with a feeble voice, “ I 
believe I am; but if it be all true, if indeed I did not 
dream, I am sorry that I am still alive to feel this misery 
and horror.” 

“ For that matter,” replied the old woman, “if you 
mean about the gentleman you murdered, I believe that it 
were better for you if you were dead, for I fancy it will go 
hard with you ! However, that’s none of my business; I am 
sent to nurse you, and get you well; I do my duty with 
a safe conscience; it were well if every body did the 
same.” 

I turned with loathing from the woman who could utter 
so unfeeling a speech to a person just saved, on the very 
edge of death; but I felt languid, and unable to reflect on 
all that had passed. The whole series of my life appeared 
to me as a dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were 
all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the 
force of reality. 

As the images that floated before me became more dis¬ 
tinct, I grew feverish; a darkness pressed around me: no 
one was near me who soothed me with the gentle voice of 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


159 

love ; no dear hand supported me. The physician came 
and prescribed medicines, and the old woman prepared 
them for me ; but utter carelessness was visible in the first, 
and the expression of brutality was strongly marked in the 
visage of the second. Who could be interested in the 
fate of a murderer, hut the hangman who would gain his 
fee ? 

These were my first reflections; hut I soon learned that 
Mr. Ivirwin had shown me extreme kindness. He had 
caused the best room in the prison to be prepared for me 
(wretched indeed was the best) ; and it was he who had 
provided a physician and a nurse. It is true, he seldom 
came to see me ; for, although he ardently desired to relieve 
the sufferings of every human creature, he did not wish to 
be present at the agonies and miserable ravings of a mur¬ 
derer. He came, therefore, sometimes, to see that I was 
not neglected; but his visits were short, and with long 
intervals. 

One day, while I was gradually recovering, I was seated 
in a chair, my eyes half open, and my cheeks livid like 
those in death. I was overcome by gloom and misery, and 
often reflected I had better seek death than desire to remain 
in a world which to me was replete with wretchedness. At 
one time I considered whether I should not declare myself 
guilty, and suffer the penalty of the law, less innocent than 
poor Justine had been. Such were my thoughts, when the 
door of my apartment was opened, and Mr. Ivirwin entered. 
His countenance expressed sympathy and compassion ; he 
drew a chair close to mine, and addressed me in French — 

“ I fear that this place is very shocking to you; can I 
do any thing to make you more comfortable ? ” 

“ I thank you ; but all that you mention is nothing to 
me: on the whole earth there is no comfort which I am 
capable of receiving.” 

t( I know that the sympathy of a stranger can be hut of 
little relief to one borne down as you are by so strange a 
misfortune. But you will, I hope, soon quit this melan¬ 
choly abode ; for, doubtless, evidence can easily be brought 
to free you from the criminal charge.” 

“ That is my least concern : I am, by a course of strange 


160 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


events, become the most miserable of mortals. Persecuted 
and tortured as I am and have been, can death be any evil 
to me ? '* 

“ Nothing indeed could be more unfortunate and ago¬ 
nising than the strange chances that have lately occurred. 
You were thrown, by some surprising accident, on this 
shore, renowned for its hospitality ; seized immediately, 
and charged with murder. The first sight that was pre¬ 
sented to your eyes was the body of your friend, murdered 
in so unaccountable a manner, and placed, as it were, by some 
fiend across your path.” 

As Mr. Kirwin said this, notwithstanding the agitation 
I endured on this retrospect of my sufferings, I also felt 
considerable surprise at the knowledge he seemed to possess 
concerning me. I suppose some astonishment was exhi¬ 
bited in my countenance; for Mr. Kirwin hastened to 
say — 

“ Immediately upon your being taken ill, all the papers 
that were on your person were brought me, and I examined 
them that I might discover some trace by which I could 
send to your relations an account of your misfortune and 
illness. I found several letters, and, among others, one 
which I discovered from its commencement to be from your 
father. I instantly wrote to Geneva: nearly two months 
have elapsed since the departure of my letter.—But you are 
ill; even now you tremble: you are unfit for agitation of 
any kind.” 

a This suspense is a thousand times worse than the 
most horrible event: tell me what new scene of death has 
been acted, and whose murder I am now to lament?” 

(C Your family is perfectly well,” said Mr. Kirwin, with 
gentleness; “ and some one, a friend, is come to visit 
you.” 

I know not by what chain of thought, the idea presented 
itself, but it instantly darted into my mind that the mur¬ 
derer had come to mock at my misery, and taunt me with 
the death of Glerval, as a new incitement for me to comply 
with his hellish desires. I put my hand before my eyes, 
and cried out in agony — 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. l6’l 

“ Oh ! take him away ! I cannot see him; for God’s sake, 
do not let him enter ! ” 

Mr. Kirwin regarded me with a troubled countenance. 
He could not help regarding my exclamation as a presump¬ 
tion of my guilt, and said, in rather a severe tone — 

“ I should have thought, young man, that the presence 
of your father would have been welcome, instead of inspir¬ 
ing such violent repugnance.” 

“ My father !” cried I, while every feature and every 
muscle was relaxed from anguish to pleasure: “ is my 
father indeed come ? How kind, how very kind ! But 
where is he, why does he not hasten to me ? ” 

My change of manner surprised and pleased the magis¬ 
trate ; perhaps he thought that my former exclamation was 
a momentary return of delirium, and now he instantly 
resumed his former benevolence. He rose, and quitted the 
room with my nurse, and in a moment my father en¬ 
tered it. 

Nothing, at this moment, could have given me greater 
pleasure than the arrival of my father. I stretched out my 
hand to him, and cried — 

“ Are you then safe — and Elizabeth — and Ernest ? ** 

My father calmed me with assurances of their welfare, and 
endeavoured, by dwelling on these subjects so interesting to 
my heart, to raise my desponding spirits; but he soon felt 
that a prison cannot be the abode of cheerfulness. c< What 
a place is this that you inhabit, my son!” said he, looking 
mournfully at the barred windows, and wretched appearance 
of the room. “ You travelled to seek happiness, but a 
fatality seems to pursue you. And poor Clerval —” 

The name of my unfortunate and murdered friend was 
an agitation too great to be endured in my weak state; 1 
shed tears. 

“ Alas ! yes, my father,” replied I; “ some destiny of 
the most horrible kind hangs over me, and I must live to 
fulfil it, or surely I should have died on the coffin of 
Henry.” 

We were not allowed to converse for any length of time, 
for the precarious state of my health rendered every pre- 

M 


16*2 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


caution necessary that could ensure tranquillity. Mr. Kir- 
win came in, and insisted that my strength should not be 
exhausted by too much exertion. But the appearance of 
my father was to me like that of my good angel, and I gra¬ 
dually recovered my health. 

As my sickness quitted me, I was absorbed by a gloomy 
and black melancholy, that nothing could dissipate. The 
image of Clerval was for ever before me, ghastly and mur¬ 
dered. More than once the agitation into which these re¬ 
flections threw me made my friends dread a dangerous 
relapse. Alas ! why did they preserve so miserable and 
detested a life? It was surely that I might fulfil my des¬ 
tiny, which is now drawing to a close. Soon, oh! very 
soon, will death extinguish these throbbings, and relieve 
me from the mighty weight of anguish that bears me to 
the dust; and, in executing the award of justice, I shall 
also sink to rest. Then the appearance of death was dis¬ 
tant, although the wish was ever present to my thoughts; 
and I often sat for hours motionless and speechless, wishing 
for some mighty revolution that might bury me and my 
destroyer in its ruins. 

The season of the assizes approached. I had already 
been three months in prison; and although I was still weak, 
and in continual danger of a relapse, I was obliged to travel 
nearly a hundred miles to the county-town, where the court 
was held. Mr. Kirwin charged himself with every care of 
collecting witnesses, and arranging my defence. I was 
spared the disgrace of appearing publicly as a criminal, as 
the case was not brought before the court that decides on 
life and death. The grand jury rejected the bill, on its 
being proved that I was on the Orkney Islands at the hour 
the body of my friend was found; and a fortnight after my 
removal I was liberated from prison. 

My father was enraptured on finding me freed from the 
vexations of a criminal charge, that I was again allowed to 
breathe the fresh atmosphere, and permitted to return to my 
native country. I did not participate in these feelings ; for 
to me the walls of a dungeon or a palace were alike hateful. 
The cup of life was poisoned for ever; and although the sun 
shone upon me, as upon the happy and gay of heart, I saw' 


THE MODERN PR03IETHEUS. 


163 


around me nothing but a dense and frightful darkness, pe¬ 
netrated by no light but the glimmer of two eyes that glared 
upon me. Sometimes they were the expressive eyes of 
Henry, languishing in death, the dark orbs nearly covered 
by the lids, and the long black lashes that fringed them ; 
sometimes it was the watery, clouded eyes of the monster, 
as I first saw them in my chamber at Ingolstadt. 

My father tried to awaken in me the feelings of affection. 
He talked of Geneva, which I should soon visit — of Eli¬ 
zabeth and Ernest; but these words only drew deep groans 
from me. Sometimes, indeed, I felt a wish for happiness; 
and thought, with melancholy delight, of my beloved 
cousin; or longed, with a devouring maladie du pays, 
to see once more the blue lake and rapid Rhone, that had 
been so dear to me in early childhood: but my general 
state of feeling was a torpor, in which a prison was as 
welcome a residence as the divinest scene in nature; and 
these fits were seldom interrupted but by paroxysms of 
anguish and despair. At these moments I often endea¬ 
voured to put an end to the existence I loathed; and it 
required unceasing attendance and vigilance to restrain me 
from committing some dreadful act of violence. 

Yet one duty remained to me, the recollection of which 
finally triumphed over my selfish despair. It w r as ne¬ 
cessary that I should return without delay to Geneva, there 
to watch over the lives of those I so fondly loved ; and to 
lie in w r ait for the murderer, that if any chance led me to 
the place of his concealment, or if he dared again to blast me 
by his presence, I might, with unfailing aim, put an end to 
the existence of the monstrous Image which I had endued 
with the mockery of a soul still more monstrous. My 
father still desired to delay our departure, fearful that I 
could not sustain the fatigues of a journey : for I was a 
shattered wreck, — the shadow of a human being. My 
strength was gone. I was a mere skeleton ; and fever night 
and day preyed upon my wasted frame. 

Still, as 1 urged our leaving Ireland with such inquietude 
and impatience, my father thought it best to yield. We 
took our passage on board a vessel bound for Havre-de- 
Grace, and sailed with a fair wind from the Irish shores. 


16*4 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


It was midnight. I lay on the deck, looking at the stars, 
and listening to the dashing of the waves. * I hailed the 
darkness that shut Ireland from my sight ; and my pulse 
heat with a feverish joy when I reflected that I should 
soon see Geneva. The past appeared to me in the light of 
a frightful dream; yet the vessel in which I was, the wind 
that blew me from the detested shore of Ireland, and the 
sea which surrounded me, told me too forcibly that I was 
deceived by no vision, and that Clerval, my friend and 
dearest Companion, - had fallen a victim to me and the 
monster of my creation. I repassed, in my memory, my 
w T hol£ life ; my quiet happiness while residing with my 
\farnily ii^G&neva, the*depth of my mother, and my depar¬ 
ture for Ingolstadt. I remembered, shuddering, the mad 
enthusiasm that hurried me on to the creation of my hideous 
enemy, and I called to mind the night in which he first 
lived. I was unable to pursue the train of thought ; a 
thousand feelings pressed upon me, and I wept bitterly. 

Ever since my recovery from the fever, I had been in 
the custom of taking every night a small quantity of lauda¬ 
num ; for it was by means of this drug only that I was 
enabled to gain the rest necessary for the preservation of 
life. Oppressed by the recollection of my various misfor¬ 
tunes, I now swallowed double my usual quantity, and soon 
slept profoundly. But sleep did not afford me respite from 
thought and misery ; my dreams presented a thousand 
objects that scared me. Towards morning I was possessed 
by a kind of night-mare; I felt the fiend’s grasp in my 
neck, and could not free myself from it ; groans and cries 
rung in my ears. My father, who was watching over 
me, perceiving my restlessness, awoke me; the dashing 
waves were around: the cloudy sky above; the fiend was 
not here: a sense of security, a feeling that a truce was 
established between the present nour and the irresistible, 
disastrous future, imparted to me a kind of calm forgetful¬ 
ness, of which the human mind is by its structure peculiarly 
susceptible. 


TIIE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


165 


CHAPTER XXII. 

The voyage came to an end. We landed, and proceeded to 
Paris. I soon found that I had overtaxed my strength, and 
that I must repose before I could continue my journey. 
My father’s care and attentions were indefatigable; but he 
did not know the origin of my sufferings, and sought erro¬ 
neous methods to remedy the incurable ill. He wished me 
to seek amusement in society. I abhorred the face of man. 
Oh, not abhorred! they were my brethren, my fellow beings, 
and I felt attracted even to the most repulsive among them, 
as to creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism. 
But I felt that I had no right to share their intercourse. I 
had unchained an jenemy among them, whose joy it was to 
shed their blood, and to revel in their groans. How they 
would, each and all, abhor me, and hunt me from the world, 
did they know my unhallowed acts, and the crimes which 
had their source in me ! 

My father yielded at length to my desire to avoid society, 
and strove by various arguments to banish my despair. 
Sometimes he thought that I felt deeply the degradation of 
being obliged to answer a charge of murder, and he endea¬ 
voured to prove to me the futility of pride. 

Alas ! my father,” said I, “ how little do you know 
me. Human beings, their feelings and passions, would 
indeed be degraded if such a wretch as I felt pride. Jus¬ 
tine, poor unhappy Justine, was as innocent as I, and she 
suffered the same charge; she died for it; and I am the 
cause of this — I murdered her. William, Justine, and 
Henry — they all died by my hands.” 

My father had often, during my imprisonment, heard me 
make the same assertion ; when I thus accused myself, he 
sometimes seemed to desire an explanation, and at others he 
appeared to consider it as the offspring of delirium, and 
that, during my illness, some idea of this kind had pre¬ 
sented itself to my imagination, the remembrance of which 
I preserved in my convalescence. I avoided explanation 

m 3 


166 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


and maintained a continual silence concerning the wretch I 
had created. I had a persuasion that I should be supposed 
mad ; and this in itself would for ever have chained my 
tongue. But, besides, I could not bring myself to disclose a 
secret which would fill my hearer with consternation, and 
make fear and unnatural horror the inmates of his breast. 
I checked, therefore, my impatient thirst for sympathy, and 
was silent when I would have given the world to have con¬ 
fided the fatal secret. Yet still words like those I have 
recorded, would burst uncontrollably from me. I could 
offer no explanation of them ; but their truth in part re¬ 
lieved the burden of my mysterious woe. 

Upon this occasion my father said, with an expression of 
unbounded wonder, “ My dearest Victor, what infatu¬ 
ation is this ? My dear son, I entreat you never to make 
such an assertion again.” 

“ I am not mad,” I cried energetically; “ the sun and 
the heavens, who have viewed my operations, can bear wit¬ 
ness of my truth. I am the assassin of those most innocent 
victims; they died by my machinations. A thousand times 
would I have shed my own blood, drop by drop, to have 
saved their lives; but I could not, my father, indeed I 
could not sacrifice the whole human race.” 

The conclusion of this speech convinced my father that 
my ideas were deranged, and he instantly changed the 
subject of our conversation, and endeavoured to alter the 
course of my thoughts. He wished as much as possible to 
obliterate the memory of the scenes that had taken place in 
Ireland, and never alluded to them, or suffered me to speak 
of my misfortunes. 

As time passed away I became more calm: misery had 
her dwelling in my heart, but I no longer talked in the 
same incoherent manner of my own crimes; sufficient for 
me was the consciousness of them. By the utmost self- 
violence, I curbed the imperious voice of wretchedness, 
which sometimes desired to declare itself to the whole world; 
and my manners were calmer and more composed than they 
had ever been since my journey to the sea of ice. 

A few days before we left Paris on our way to Switzer¬ 
land, I received the following letter from Elizabeth: — 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


16*7 


cf My dear Friend, 

ce It gave me the greatest pleasure to receive a letter 
from my uncle dated at Paris; you are no longer at a 
formidable distance, and I may hope to see you in less than 
a fortnight. My poor cousin, how much you must have 
suffered! I expect to see you looking even more ill than 
when you quitted Geneva. This winter has been passed 
most miserably, tortured as I have been by anxious sus¬ 
pense ; yet I hope to see peace in your countenance, and 
to find that your heart is not totally void of comfort and 
tranquillity. 

“ Yet I fear that the same feelings now exist that made 
you so miserable a year ago, even perhaps augmented by 
time. I would not disturb you at this period, when so 
many misfortunes weigh upon you; but a conversation that 
I had with my uncle previous to his departure renders 
some explanation necessary before we meet. 

“ Explanation ! you may possibly say; what can Eliza¬ 
beth have to explain ? If you really say this, my questions 
are answered, and all my doubts satisfied. But you are 
distant from me, and it is possible that you may dread, and 
yet be pleased with this explanation ; and, in a probability 
of this being the case, I dare not any longer postpone writ¬ 
ing what, during your absence, I have often wished to ex¬ 
press to you, but have never had the courage to begin. 

ec You well know, Victor, that our union had been the 
favourite plan of your parents ever since our infancy. We 
were told this when young, and taught to look forward to 
it as an event that would certainly take place. We were 
affectionate playfellows during childhood, and, I believe, 
dear and valued friends to one another as we grew older. 
But as brother and sister often entertain a lively affection 
towards each other, without desiring a more intimate union, 
may not such also be our case? Tell me, dearest Victor. 
Answer me, I conjure you, by our mutual happiness, with 
simple truth — Do you not love another ? 

(< You have travelled ; you have spent several years of ' 
your life at Ingolstadt; and I confess to you, my friend, 
that when I saw you last autumn so unhappy, flying to 

m 4 > 


16*8 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


solitude, from the society of every creature, I could not 
help supposing that you might regret our connection, and 
believe. yourself bound in honour to fulfil the wishes of 
you parents, although they opposed themselves to your 
inclinations. But this is false reasoning. I confess to you, 
my friend, that I love you, and that in my airy dreams of 
futurity you have been my constant friend and companion. 
But it is your happiness I desire as well as my own, when 
I declare to you, that our marriage would render me eternally 
miserable, unless it were the dictate of your own free choice. 
Even now I weep to think, that, borne down as you are by 
the cruellest misfortunes, you may stifle, by the word honour , 
all hope of that love and happiness which would alone re¬ 
store you to yourself. I, who have so disinterested an affec¬ 
tion for you, may increase your miseries tenfold, by being an 
obstacle to your wishes. Ah ! Victor, be assured that your 
cousin and playmate has too sincere a love for you not to 
be made miserable by this supposition. Be happy, my 
friend; and if you obey me in this one request, remain 
satisfied that nothing on earth will have the power to inter¬ 
rupt my tranquillity. 

“ Do not let this letter disturb you; do not answer to¬ 
morrow, or the next day, or even until you come, if it 
will give you pain. My uncle will send me news of your 
health ; and if I see but one smile on your lips w T hen we 
meet, occasioned by this or any other exertion of mine, I 
shall need no other happiness. 


“ Geneva, May 18th, 17—.” 


“ Elizabeth Lavenza. 


This letter revived in my memory what I had before for¬ 
gotten, the threat of the fiend —“ I will he with you on your 
wedding night!” Such was my sentence, and on that night 
would the daemon employ every art to destroy me, and tear 
- me from the glimpse of happiness which promised partly to 
console my sufferings. On that night he had determined to 
consummate his crimes by my death. Well, be it so; a 
deadly struggle w r ould then assuredly take place, in which if 
he were victorious I should be at peace, and his power over 
me be at an end. If he were vanquished, I should be a 
free man. Alas ! what freedom ? such as the peasant enjoys 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. lf>9 

when his family have been massacred before his eyes, his 
cottage burnt, his lands laid waste, and he is turned adrift, 
homeless, penniless, and alone, but free. Such would be 
my liberty, except that in my Elizabeth I possessed a 
treasure; alas! balanced by those horrors of remorse and 
guilt, which would pursue me until death. 

Sweet and beloved Elizabeth ! I read and re-read her 
letter, and some softened feelings stole into my heart, and 
dared to whisper paradisiacal dreams of love and joy; but 
the apple was already eaten, and the angel’s arm bared to 
drive me from all hope. Yet I would die to make her 
. happy. If the monster executed his threat, death was in¬ 
evitable ; yet, again, I considered whether my marriage 
would hasten my fate. My destruction might indeed arrive 
a few months sooner; but if my torturer should suspect 
that I postponed it, influenced by his menaces, he would 
surely find other, and perhaps more dreadful means of 
revenge. He had vowed to be with me on my wedding-night , 
yet he did not consider that threat as binding him to peace 
in the mean time; for, as if to show me that he was not yet 
satiated with blood, he had murdered Clerval immediately 
after the enunciation of his threats. I resolved, therefore, that 
if my immediate union with my cousin would conduce either 
to hers or my father’s happiness, my adversary’s designs 
against my life should not retard it a single hour. 

In this state of mind I wrote to Elizabeth. My letter 
was calm and affectionate. “ I fear, my beloved girl,” I 
said, “ little happiness remains for us on earth; yet all that 
I may one day enjoy is centred in you. Chase away your 
idle fears; to you alone do I consecrate my life, and my 
endeavours for contentment. I have one secret, Elizabeth, 
a dreadful one; when revealed to you, it will chill your 
frame with horror, and then, far from being surprised at my 
misery, you will only wonder that I survive what I have 
endured. I will confide this tale of misery and terror to 
you the day after our marriage shall take place; for, my 
sweet cousin, there must be perfect confidence between us. 
But until then, 1 conjure you, do not mention or allude to 
it. This I most earnestly entreat, and I know you will 
comply.” 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


170 

In about a week after the arrival of Elizabeth's letter, we 
returned to Geneva. The sweet girl welcomed me with 
warm affection; yet tears were in her eyes, as she beheld 
my emaciated frame and feverish cheeks. I saw a change 
in her also. She was thinner, and had lost much of that 
heavenly vivacity that had before charmed me; but her 
gentleness, and soft looks of compassion, made her a more fit 
companion for one blasted and miserable as I was. 

The tranquillity which I now enjoyed did not endure. 
Memory brought madness with it ; and •when I thought of 
wdiat had passed, a real insanity possessed me; sometimes 
I was furious, and burnt with rage ; sometimes low and 
despondent. I neither spoke, nor looked at any one, but 
sat motionless, bewildered by the multitude of miseries that 
overcame me. 

Elizabeth alone had the power to draw me from these 
fits ; her gentle voice would soothe me when transported by 
passion, and inspire me with human feelings when sunk in 
torpor. She wept with me, and for me. When reason 
returned, she would remonstrate, and endeavour to inspire 
me with resignation. Ah ! it is well for the unfortunate to 
be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace. The 
agonies of remorse poison the luxury there is otherwise 
sometimes found in indulging the excess of grief. 

Soon after my arrival, my father spoke of my immediate 
marriage with Elizabeth. I remained silent. 

“ Have you, then, some other attachment?” 

None on earth. I love Elizabeth, and look forward to 
our union with delight. Let the day therefore be fixed; 
and on it 1 will consecrate myself, in life or death, to the 
happiness 6fi^jny cousin.” 

<( My dear Victor, do not speak thus. Heavy misfortunes 
have befallen us ; but let us only cling closer to what re¬ 
mains, and transfer our love for those whom we have lost, to 
those who yet live. Our circle will be small, but bound 
close by the ties of affection and mutual misfortune. And 
when time shall have softened your despair, new and dear 
objects of care will be born to replace those of whom we 
have been so cruelly deprived.” 

Such were the lessons of my father. But to me the 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 171 

remembrance of the threat returned: nor can you wonder, 
that, omnipotent as the fiend had yet been in his deeds of 
blood, I should almost regard him as invincible; and that 
when he had pronounced the words, “ I shall be with you 
on your wedding-night,” I should regard the threatened 
fate as unavoidable. But death was no evil to me, if the 
loss of Elizabeth were balanced with it; and I there¬ 
fore, with a contented and even cheerful countenance, 
agreed with my father, that if my cousin would consent, 
the ceremony should take place in ten days, and thus put, 
as I imagined, the seal to my fate. 

Great God ! if for one instant I had thought what might 
be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would 
rather have banished myself for ever from my native 
country, and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth, 
than have consented to this miserable marriage. But, as if 
possessed of magic powers, the monster had blinded me to 
his real intentions; and when I thought that I had prepared 
only my own death, I hastened that of a far dearer victim. 

As the period fixed for our marriage drew nearer, whe¬ 
ther from cowardice or a prophetic feeling, I felt my heart 
sink within me. But I concealed my feelings by an ap¬ 
pearance of hilarity, that brought smiles and joy to the 
countenance of my father, but hardly deceived the ever- 
watchful and nicer eye of Elizabeth. She looked forward 
to our union with placid contentment, not unmingled with 
a little fear, which past misfortunes had impressed, that 
what now appeared certain and tangible happiness, might 
soon dissipate into an airy dream, and leave no trace but 
deep and everlasting regret. * 

Preparations were made for the event; congratulatory 
visits were received ; and all wore a smiling appearance. I 
shut up, as well as I could, in my own heart the anxiety 
that preyed there, and entered with seeming earnestness into 
the plans of my father, although they might only serve as 
the decorations of my tragedy. Through my father’s ex¬ 
ertions, a part of the inheritance of Elizabeth had been 
restored to her by the Austrian government. A small 
possession on the shores of Como belonged to her. It was 
agreed that, immediately after our union, we should proceed 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


172 

to Villa Lavenza, and spend our first days of happiness beside 
the beautiful lake near which it stood. 

In the mean time I took every precaution to defend my 
person, in case the fiend should openly attack me. I car¬ 
ried pistols and a dagger constantly about me, and was ever 
on the watch to prevent artifice; and by these means 
gained a greater degree of tranquillity. Indeed, as the 
period approached, the threat appeared more as a delusion, 
not to be regarded as worthy to disturb my peace, while 
the happiness I hoped for in my marriage wore a greater 
appearance of certainty, as the day fixed for its solemnisa¬ 
tion drew nearer, and I heard it continually spoken of as 
an occurrence which no accident could possibly prevent. 

Elizabeth seemed happy; my tranquil demeanour con¬ 
tributed greatly to calm her mind. But on the day that 
was to fulfil my wishes and my destiny, she was melan¬ 
choly, and a presentiment of evil pervaded her; and per¬ 
haps also she thought of the dreadful secret which I had 
promised to reveal to her on the following day. My father 
was in the mean time overjoyed, and, in the bustle of pre¬ 
paration, only recognised in the melancholy of his niece the 
diffidence of a bride. 

After the ceremony was performed, a large party assem¬ 
bled at my father’s ; but it was agreed that Elizabeth and 
I should commence our journey by water, sleeping that 
night at Evian, and continuing our voyage on the following 
day. The day was fair, the wind favourable, all smiled on 
our nuptial embarkation. 

Those were the last moments of my life during which I 
enjoyed the feeling of happiness. We passed rapidly along: 
the sun was hot, but we were sheltered from its rays by a 
kind of canopy, while we enjoyed the beauty of the scene, 
sometimes on one side of the lake, where we saw Mont 
Saleve, the pleasant banks of Montalegre, and at a distance, 
surmounting all, the beautiful Mont Blanc, and the assem¬ 
blage of snowy mountains that in vain endeavour to emu¬ 
late her; sometimes coasting the opposite banks, we saw 
the mighty Jura opposing its dark side to the ambition that 
would quit its native country, and an almost insurmountable 
barrier to the invader who should wish to enslave it. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 173 

I took the hand of Elizabeth: “You are sorrowful, 
my love. Ah ! if you knew what I have suffered, and 
what I may yet endure, you would endeavour to let me 
taste the quiet and freedom from despair, that this one day 
at least permits me to enjoy/’ 

“ Be happy, my dear Victor,” replied Elizabeth ; “ there 

is, I hope, nothing to distress you; and be assured that if 
a lively joy is not painted in my face, my heart is con¬ 
tented. Something whispers to me not to depend too much 
on the prospect that is opened before us; but I will not 
listen to such a sinister voice. Observe how fast we move 
along, and how the clouds, which sometimes obscure and 
sometimes rise above the dome of Mont Blanc, render this 
scene of beauty still more interesting. Look also at the 
innumerable fish that are swimming in the clear waters, 
where we can distinguish every pebble that lies at the bot¬ 
tom. What a divine day ! how happy and serene all nature 
appears ! ” 

Thus Elizabeth endeavoured to divert her thoughts and 
mine from all reflection upon melancholy subjects. But her 
temper was fluctuating; joy for a few instants shone in 
her eyes, but it continually gave place to distraction and 
reverie. 

The sun sunk lower in the heavens ; we passed the river 
Drance, and observed its path through the chasms of the 
higher, and the glens of the lower hills. The Alps here 
come closer to the lake, and we approached the amphi¬ 
theatre of mountains which forms its eastern boundary. 
The spire of Evian shone under the woods that surrounded 

it, and the range of mountain above mountain by which it 
was overhung. 

The wind, which had hitherto carried us along with 
amazing rapidity, sunk at sunset to a light breeze ; the soft 
air just ruffled the water, and caused a pleasant motion 
among the trees as we approached the shore, from which it 
wafted the most delightful scent of flowers and hay. The 
sun sunk beneath the horizon as we landed; and as I 
touched the shore, I felt those cares and fears revive, which 
soon were to clasp me, and cling to me for ever. 


174 ? 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

It was eight o’clock when we landed; we walked for a 
short time on the shore, enjoying the transitory light, and 
then retired to the inn, and contemplated the lovely scene of 
waters, woods, and mountains, obscured in darkness, yet still 
displaying their black outlines. 

The wind, which had fallen in the south, now rose with 
g*reat violence in the west. The moon had reached her 
summit in the heavens, and was beginning to descend; the 
clouds swept across it swifter than the flight of the vulture, 
and dimmed her rays, while the lake reflected the scene of 
the busy heavens, rendered still busier by the restless waves 
that were beginning to rise. Suddenly a heavy storm of 
rain descended. 

I had been calm during the day; but so soon as night 
obscured the shapes of objects, a thousand fears arose in my 
mind. I was anxious and watchful, while my right hand 
grasped a pistol which was hidden in my bosom; every 
sound terrified me; but I resolved that I would sell my 
life dearlj, and not shrink from the conflict until my own 
life, or that of my adversary, was extinguished. 

Elizabeth observed my agitation for some time in timid 
and fearful silence; but there was something in my glance 
which communicated terror to her, and trembling she asked, 
“ What is it that agitates you, my dear Victor ? What is 
it you fear ?” 

“ Oh ! peace, peace, my love,” replied I; “ this night, 
and all will be safe: but this night is dreadful, very 
dreadful.” 

I passed an hour in this state of mind, when suddenly I 
reflected how fearful the combat which I momentarily ex¬ 
pected would be to my wife, and I earnestly entreated her 
to retire, resolving not to join her until I had obtained 
some knowledge as to the situation of my enemy. 

She left me, and I continued some time walking up and 
down the passages of the house, and inspecting every corner 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 175 

that might afford a retreat to my adversary. But I dis¬ 
covered no trace of him, and was beginning to conjecture 
that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the 
execution of his menaces; when suddenly I heard a shrill 
and dreadful scream. It came from the room into which 
Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth 
rushed into my mind, my arms dropped, the motion of 
every muscle and fibre was suspended ; I could feel the 
blood trickling in my veins, and tingling in the extremities 
of my limbs. This state lasted but for an instant; the 
scream was repeated, and I rushed into the room. 

Great God ! why did I not then expire! Why am I 
here to relate the destruction of the best hope, and the 
purest creature of earth ? She was there, lifeless and in¬ 
animate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, 
and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. 
Every where I turn I see the same figure—her bloodless 
arms and relaxed form flung by the murderer on its bridal 
bier. Could I behold this, and live ? Alas ! life is obsti¬ 
nate, and clings closest where it is most hated. For a mo¬ 
ment only did I lose recollection; I fell senseless on the 
ground. 

When I recovered, I found myself surrounded by the 
people of the inn ; their countenances expressed a breath¬ 
less terror: but the horror of others appeared only as a 
mockery, a shadow of the feelings that oppressed me. I 
escaped from them to the room where lay the body of Eliza¬ 
beth, my love, my wife, so lately living, so dear, so worthy. 
She had been moved from the posture in which I had first 
beheld her; and now, as she lay, her head upon her arm, 
and a handkerchief thrown across her face and neck, I 
might have supposed her asleep. I rushed towards her, 
and embraced her with ardour ; but the deadly languor and 
coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my 
arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and 
cherished. The murderous mark of the fiend’s grasp was 
on her neck, and the breath had ceased to issue from her 
lips. 

While I still hung over he* In the agony of despair, I 
happened to look up. The windows of the room had before 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


176 

been darkened, and I felt a kind of panic on seeing the 
pale yellow light of the moon illuminate the chamber. The 
shutters had been thrown back ; and, with a sensation of 
horror not to be described, I saw at the open window a 
figure the most hideous and abhorred. A grin was on the 
face of the monster; he seemed to jeer, as with his fiendish 
finger he pointed towards the corpse of my wife. I rushed 
towards the window, and drawing a pistol from my bosom, 
fired ; but he eluded me, leaped from his station, and, run¬ 
ning with the swiftness of lightning, plunged into the 
lake. 

The report of the pistol brought a crowd into the room. 

I pointed to the spot where he had disappeared, and we 
followed the track with boats ; nets were cast, but in vain. 
After passing several hours, we returned hopeless, most of 
my companions believing it to have been a form conjured 
up by my fancy. After having landed, they proceeded to 
search the country, parties going in different directions 
among the woods and vines. 

I attempted to accompany them, and proceeded a short 
distance from the house ; but my head whirled round, my 
steps w r ere like those of a drunken man, I fell at last in a 
state of utter exhaustion ; a film covered my eyes, and my 
skin was parched with the heat of fever. In this state I 
was carried back, and placed on a bed, hardly conscious of 
what had happened; my eyes w r andered round the room, 
as if to seek something that I had lost. 

After an interval, 1 arose, as if by instinct, and crawled 
into the room where the corpse of my beloved lay. There 
were women weeping around—I hung over it, and joined 
my sad tears to theirs — all this time no distinct idea pre¬ 
sented itself to my mind; but my thoughts rambled to 
various subjects, reflecting confusedly on my misfortunes, 
and their cause. I w T as bewildered in a cloud of wonder 
and horror. The death of William, the execution of Jus¬ 
tine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife; even at 
that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends 
were safe from the malignity of the fiend ; my father even 
now might be writhing under his grasp, and Ernest might 
be dead at his feet. This idea made me shudder, and re- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 177 

called me to action. I started up, and resolved to return 
to Geneva with all possible speed. 

There were no horses to be procured, and I must return 
by the lake; but the wind was unfavourable, and the rain 
fell in torrents. However, it was hardly morning, and I 
might reasonably hope to arrive by night. I hired men to 
row, and took an oar myself; for I had always experienced 
relief from mental torment in bodily exercise. But the 
overflowing misery I now felt, and the excess of agitation 
that I endured, rendered me incapable of any exertion. I 
threw down the oar ; and leaning my head upon my hands, 
gave way to every gloomy idea that arose. If I looked up, 
I saw the scenes which were familiar to me in my happier 
time, and which I had contemplated but the day before in 
the company of her who was now but a shadow and a re¬ 
collection. Tears streamed from my eyes. The rain had 
ceased for a moment, and I saw the fish play in the waters 
as they had done a few hours before; they had then been 
observed by Elizabeth. Nothing is so painful to the human 
mind as a great and sudden change. The sun might shine, 
or the clouds might lower: but nothing could appear to me 
as it had done the day before. A fiend had snatched from 
me every hope of future happiness: no creature had ever 
been so miserable as I was ; so frightful an event is single 
in the history of man. 

But why should I dwell upon the incidents that fol¬ 
lowed this last overwhelming event? Mine has been a 
tale of horrors; I have reached their acme, and what I 
must now relate can but be tedious to you. Know that, 
one by one, my friends were’ snatched away; I was left 
desolate. My own strength is exhausted ; and I must tell, 
in a few words, what remains of my hideous narration. 

I arrived at Geneva. My father and Ernest yet lived ; 
but the former sunk under the tidings that I bore. I see 
him now, excellent and venerable old man ! his eyes wan¬ 
dered in vacancy, for they had lost their charm and their 
delight—his Elizabeth, his more than daughter, whom he 
doated on with all that affection which a man feels, who in 
the decline of life, having few affections, clings more ear¬ 
nestly to those that remain. Cursed, cursed be the fiend 


173 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


that brought misery on his grey hairs, and doomed him to 
waste in wretchedness ! He could not live under the hor¬ 
rors that were accumulated around him; the springs of 
existence suddenly gave way: he was unable to rise from 
his bed, and in a few days he died in my arms. 

What then became of me ? I know not; I lost sensa¬ 
tion, and chains and darkness were the only objects that 
pressed upon me. Sometimes, indeed, I dreamt that I 
wandered in flowery meadows and pleasant vales with the 
friends of my youth ; but I awoke, and found myself in a 
dungeon. Melancholy followed, but by degrees I gained a 
clear conception of my miseries and situation, and was then 
released from my prison. For they had called me mad ; and 
during many months, as I understood, a solitary cell had 
been my habitation. 

Liberty, however, had been an useless gift to me, had I 
not, as I awakened to reason, at the same time awakened to 
revenge. As the memory of past misfortunes pressed upon 
me, I began to reflect on their cause — the monster whom 
I had created, the miserable daemon whom I had sent abroad 
into the world for my destruction. I was possessed by a 
maddening rage when I thought of him, and desired 
and ardently prayed that I might have him within my 
grasp to wreak a great and signal revenge on his cursed 
head. 

Nor did my hate long confine itself to useless wishes; I 
began to reflect on the best means of securing him ; and 
for this purpose, about a month after my release, I re¬ 
paired to a criminal judge in the town, and told him that 
I had an accusation to make; that I knew the destroyer of 
my family; and that I required him to exert his whole 
authority for the apprehension of the murderer. 

The magistrate listened to me with attention and kind¬ 
ness : — “ Be assured, sir,” said he, ff no pains or exertions 
on my part shall be spared to discover the villain.” 

“ I thank you,” replied I; “ listen, therefore, to the 
deposition that I have to make. It is indeed a tale so 
strange, that I should fear you would not credit it, were 
there not something in truth which, however wonderful, 
forces conviction. The story is too connected to be mis- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 179 

taken for a dream, and I have no motive for falsehood/’ 
My manner, as I thus addressed him, was impressive, but 
calm; I had formed in my own heart a resolution to pur¬ 
sue my destroyer to death ; and this purpose quieted my 
agony, and for an interval reconciled me to life. I now 
related my history, briefly, but with firmness and precision, 
marking the dates with accuracy, and never deviating into 
invective or exclamation. 

The magistrate appeared at first perfectly incredulous, 
but as 1 continued he became more attentive and inter¬ 
ested ; I saw him sometimes shudder w r ith horror, at others 
a lively surprise, unmingled with disbelief, was painted on 
his countenance. 

When I had concluded my narration, I said, iC This is 
the being whom I accuse, and for whose seizure and punish¬ 
ment I call upon you to exert your whole power. It is 
your duty as a magistrate, and I believe and hope that your 
feelings as a man will not revolt from the execution of those 
functions on this occasion.” 

This address caused a considerable change in the physi¬ 
ognomy of my own auditor. He had heard my story with 
that half kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and 
supernatural events ; but when he was called upon to act 
officially in consequence, the whole tide of his incredulity 
returned. He, however, answered mildly, “ I would will¬ 
ingly afford you every aid in your pursuit; but the crea¬ 
ture of whom you speak appears to have powers which 
would put all my exertions to defiance. Who can fol¬ 
low an animal which can traverse the sea of ice, and in¬ 
habit caves and dens where no man would venture to 
intrude ? Besides, some months have elapsed since the 
commission of his crimes, and no one can conjecture to 
what place he has w T andered, or what region he may now 
inhabit.” 

(i I do not doubt that he hovers near the spot which 
I inhabit; and if he has indeed taken refuge in the 
Alps, he may be hunted like the chamois, and destroyed as 
a beast of prey. But I perceive your thoughts : you do not 
credit my narrative, and do not intend to pursue my enemy 
with the punishment which is his desert.” 

n 2 


180 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


As I spoke, rage sparkled in my eyes; the magistrate 
was intimidated : — “ You are mistaken,” said he, “ I will 
exert myself; and if it is in my power to seize the mon¬ 
ster, be assured that he shall suffer punishment propor¬ 
tionate to his crimes. But I fear, from what you have 
yourself described to he his properties, that this will prove 
impracticable; and thus, while every proper measure is 
pursued, you should make up your mind to disappoint¬ 
ment.” 

ct That cannot be; but all that I can say will be of little 
avail. My revenge is of no moment to you ; yet, w r hile I 
allow it to be a vice, I confess that it is the devouring and 
only passion of my soul. My rage is unspeakable, when I 
reflect that the murderer, whom I have turned loose upon 
society, still exists. You refuse my just demand: I have 
but one resource ; and I devote myself, either in my life 
or death, to his destruction.” 

I trembled with excess of agitation as I said this ; there 
was a frenzy in my manner, and something, I doubt not, 
of that haughty fierceness which the martyrs of old are 
said to have possessed. But to a Genevan magistrate, 
whose mind was occupied by far other ideas than those of 
devotion and heroism, this elevation of mind had much the 
appearance of madness. He endeavoured to soothe me as 
a nurse does a child, and reverted to my tale as the effects 
of delirium. 

Man,” I cried, “ how ignorant art thou in thy pride 
of wisdom ! Cease; you know not what it is you say.” 

I broke from the house angry and disturbed, and retired 
to meditate on some other mode of action. 


t 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought 
was swallowed up and lost. I was hurried away by fury ; 
revenge alone endowed me with strength and composure ; 
it moulded my feelings, and allowed me to be calculating 



THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 181 

and calm, at periods when otherwise delirium or death 
would have been my portion. 

My first resolution was to quit Geneva for ever ; my 
country, which, when I was happy and beloved, was dear 
to me, now, in my adversity, became hateful. I provided 
myself with a sum of money, together with a few jewels 
which had belonged to my mother, and departed. 

And now my wanderings began, which are to cease but 
with life. I have traversed a vast portion of the earth, and 
have endured all the hardships which travellers, in deserts 
and barbarous countries, are w r ont to meet. How I have 
lived I hardly know ; many times have I stretched my 
failing limbs upon the sandy plain, and prayed for death. 
But revenge kept me alive; I dared not die, and leave my 
adversary in being. 

When I quitted Geneva, my first labour was to gain 
some clue by which I might trace the steps of my fiendish 
enemy. But my plan was unsettled ; and I wandered 
many hours round the confines of the town, uncertain what 
path I should pursue. As night approached, I found my¬ 
self at the entrance of the cemetery where William, Eliza¬ 
beth, and my father reposed. I entered it, and approached 
the tomb which marked their graves. Every thing was 
silent, except the leaves of the trees, w r hich were gently 
agitated by the wind; the night was nearly dark ; and the 
scene would have been solemn and affecting even to an 
uninterested observer. The spirits of the departed seemed 
to flit around, and to cast a shadow, which was felt hut not 
seen, around the head of the mourner. 

The deep grief which this scene had at first excited 
quickly gave way to rage and despair. They were dead, 
and I lived; their murderer also lived, and to destroy him 
I must drag out my weary existence. I knelt on the grass, 
and kissed the earth, and with quivering lips exclaimed, 
“ By the sacred earth on which I kneel, by the shades that 
wander near me, by the deep and eternal grief that I feel, 
swear ; and by thee, O Night, and the spirits that pre- 
le over thee, to pursue the daemon, who caused this mi¬ 
sery, until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict. For 
. purpose I will preserve my life : to execute this dear 

n 3 


182 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


revenge, will I again behold the sun, and tread the green 
herbage of earth, which otherwise should vanish from my 
eyes for ever. And I call on you, spirits of the dead; and 
on you, wandering ministers of vengeance, to aid and con¬ 
duct me in my work. Let the cursed and hellish monster 
drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now 
torments me.” 

I had begun my adjuration with solemnity, and an awe 
which almost assured me that the shades of my murdered 
friends heard and approved my devotion ; but the furies 
possessed me as I concluded, and rage choked my utter¬ 
ance. 

I was answered through the stillness of night by a loud 
and fiendish laugh. It rung on my ears long and heavily; 
the mountains re-echoed it, and I felt as if all hell sur¬ 
rounded me with mockery and laughter. Surely in that 
moment I should have been possessed by frenzy, and have 
destroyed my miserable existence, but that my vow was 
heard, and that I was reserved for vengeance. The laughter 
died away; when a well-known and abhorred voice, ap¬ 
parently close to my ear, addressed me in an audible whisper 
— “ 1 am satisfied : miserable wretch ! you have deter¬ 
mined to live, and I am satisfied.” 

I darted towards the spot from which the sound pro¬ 
ceeded ; but the devil eluded my grasp. Suddenly the broad 
disk of the moon arose, and shone full upon his ghastly 
and distorted shape, as he fled with more than mortal speed. 

I pursued him; and for many months this has been my 
task. Guided by a slight clue, I followed the windings of 
the Rhone, but vainly. The blue Mediterranean appeared; 
and, by a strange chance, I saw the fiend enter by night, 
and hide himself in a vessel bound for the Black Sea. I 
took my passage in the same ship; but he escaped, I know 
not how. 

Amidst the wilds of Tartary and Russia, although be 
still evaded me, I have ever followed in his track. Some¬ 
times the peasants, scared by this horrid apparition, in¬ 
formed me of his path; sometimes he himself, who fear 1 
that if I lost all trace of him, I should despair and die, left 
some mark to guide me. The snows descended on 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


183 


head, and I saw the print of his huge step on the white 
plain. To you first entering on life, to whom care is new, 
and agony unknown, how can you understand what I have 
felt, and still feel ? Cold, want, and fatigue, were the 
least pains which 1 was destined to endure; I was cursed 
by some devil, and carried about with me my eternal hell; 
yet still a spirit of good followed and directed my steps ; 
and, when I most murmured, would suddenly extricate me 
from seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Sometimes, 
when nature, overcome by hunger, sunk under the ex¬ 
haustion, a repast was prepared for me in the desert, that 
restored and inspirited me. The fare was, indeed, coarse, 
such as the peasants of the country ate ; but I will not 
doubt that it was set there by the spirits that I had invoked 
to aid me. Often, when all was dry, the heavens cloud¬ 
less, and I was parched by thirst, a slight cloud would 
bedim the sky, shed the few drops that revived me, and 
vanish. 

I followed, when I could, the courses of the rivers; but 
the daemon generally avoided these, as it was here that the 
population of the country chiefly collected. In other places 
human beings were seldom seen ; and I generally subsisted 
on the wild animals that crossed my path. I had money 
with me, and gained the friendship of the villagers by dis¬ 
tributing it; or I brought with me some food that I had 
killed, which, after taking a small part, I always presented 
to those who had provided me with fire and utensils for 
cooking. 

My life, as it passed thus, w r as indeed hateful to me, and 
it w T as during sleep alone that I could taste joy. O blessed 
sleep ! often, when most miserable, I sank to repose, and 
my dreams lulled me even to rapture. The spirits that 
guarded me had provided these moments, or rather hours, 
of happiness, that I might retain strength to fulfil my pil¬ 
grimage. Deprived of this respite, I should have sunk 
under my hardships. During the day I was sustained and 
inspirited by the hope of night: for in sleep I saw my 
friends, my wife, and my beloved country ; again I saw 
the benevolent countenance of my father, heard the silver 
tones of my Elizabeth's voice, and beheld Clerval enjoying 

n 4 


184 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


liealth and youth. Often, when wearied by a toilsome 
march, I persuaded myself that I was dreaming until night 
should come, and that I should then enjoy reality in the 
arms of my dearest friends. What agonising fondness did 
I feel for them ! how did I cling to their dear forms, as 
sometimes they haunted even my waking hours, and per¬ 
suade myself that they still lived ! At such moments ven¬ 
geance, that burned within me, died in my heart, and 1 
pursued my path towards the destruction of the daemon, 
more as a task enjoined by heaven, as the mechanical im¬ 
pulse of some power of which I was unconscious, than as 
the ardent desire of my soul. 

What his feelings were whom I pursued I cannot know. 
Sometimes, indeed, he left marks in writing on the barks 
of the trees, or cut in stone, that guided me, and instigated 
my fury. (< My reign is not yet over,” (these words were 
legible in one of these inscriptions;) “ you live, and my 
power is complete. Follow me; I seek the everlasting 
ices of the north, where you will feel the misery of cold and 
frost, to which I am impassive. You will find near this 
place, if you follow not too tardily, a dead hare; eat, and 
be refreshed. Come on, my enemy; we have yet to 
wrestle for our lives; but many hard and miserable hours 
must you endure until that period shall arrive.” 

Scoffing devil! Again do I vow vengeance ; again do I 
devote thee, miserable fiend, to torture and death. Never 
will I give up my search, until he or I perish ; and then 
with what ecstasy shall I join my Elizabeth, and my de¬ 
parted friends, who even now prepare for me the reward of 
my tedious toil and horrible pilgrimage! 

As I still pursued my journey to the northward, the 
snows thickened, and the cold increased in a degree almost 
too severe to support. The peasants were shut up in their 
hovels, and only a few of the most hardy ventured forth to 
seize the animals whom starvation had forced from their 
hiding-places to seek for prey. The rivers were covered 
with ice, and no fish could be procured ; and thus I was 
cut off from my chief article of maintenance. 

The triumph of my enemy increased with the difficulty 
of my labours. One inscription that he left was in these 




THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 


185 


words: — “ Prepare ! your toils only begin: wrap your¬ 
self in furs, and provide food; for we shall soon enter 
upon a journey where your sufferings will satisfy my ever¬ 
lasting hatred.’’ 

My courage and perseverance were invigorated by these 
scoffing words ; I resolved not to fail in my purpose; and, 
calling on Heaven to support me, I continued with un¬ 
abated fervour to traverse immense deserts, until the ocean 
appeared at a distance, and formed the utmost boundary of 
the horizon. Oh ! how unlike it was to the blue seas of 
the south ! Covered with ice, it was only to he distin¬ 
guished from land by its superior wildness and ruggedness. 
The Greeks wept for joy when they beheld the Mediter¬ 
ranean from the hills of Asia, and hailed with rapture the 
boundary of their toils. I did not weep; but I knelt 
dowrn, and, with a full heart, thanked my guiding spirit for 
conducting me in safety to the place where I hoped, not¬ 
withstanding my adversary’s gibe, to meet and grapple 
with him. 

Some weeks before this period I had procured a sledge 
and dogs, and thus traversed the snows with inconceivable 
speed. I know not whether the fiend possessed the same ad¬ 
vantages ; but I found that, as before I had daily lost ground 
in the pursuit, I now gained on him : so much so, that 
when I first saw the ocean, he was but one day’s journey 
in advance, and I hoped to intercept him before he should 
reach the beach. With new courage, therefore, I pressed 
on, and in two days arrived at a wretched hamlet on the 
sea-shore. I enquired of the inhabitants concerning the 
fiend, and gained accurate information. A gigantic mon¬ 
ster, they said, had arrived the night before, armed with a 
gun and many pistols; putting to flight the inhabitants of 
a solitary cottage, through fear of his terrific appearance. 
He had carried off their store of winter food, and, placing 
it in a sledge, to draw which he had seized on a numerous 
drove of trained dogs, he had harnessed them, and the 
same night, to the joy of the horror-struck villagers, had 
pursued his journey across the sea in a direction that led to 
no land; and they conjectured that he must speedily be 


186 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


destroyed by the breaking of the ice, or frozen by the 
eternal frosts. 

On hearing this information, I suffered a temporary 
access of despair. He had escaped me ; and I must com¬ 
mence a destructive and almost endless journey across the 
mountainous ices of the ocean, — amidst cold that few of 
the inhabitants could long endure, and which I, the native 
of a genial and sunny climate, could not hope to survive. 
Yet at the idea that the fiend should live and be triumphant, 
my rage and vengeance returned, and, like a mighty tide, 
overwhelmed every other feeling. After a slight repose, 
during which the spirits of the dead hovered round, and 
instigated me to toil and revenge, I prepared for my 
journey. 

I exchanged my land-sledge for one fashioned for the 
inequalities of the Frozen Ocean ; and purchasing a plen¬ 
tiful stock of provisions, I departed from land. 

I cannot guess how many days have passed since then ; 
but I have endured misery, which nothing but the eternal 
sentiment of a just retribution burning within my heart 
could have enabled me to support. Immense and rugged 
mountains of ice often barred up my passage, and I often 
heard the thunder of the ground sea, which threatened my 
destruction. But again the frost came, and made the 
paths of the sea secure. 

By the quantity of provision which I had consumed, I 
should guess that I had passed three weeks in this journey; 
and the continual protraction of hope, returning back upon 
the heart, often wrung bitter drops of despondency and 
grief from my eyes. Despair had indeed almost secured 
her prey, and I should soon have sunk beneath this misery. 
Once, after the poor animals that conveyed me had with 
incredible toil gained the summit of a sloping ice-mountain, 
and one, sinking under his fatigue, died, I viewed the 
expanse before me with anguish, when suddenly my eye 
caught a dark speck upon the dusky plain. I strained my 
sight to discover what it could be, and uttered a wild cry 
of ecstasy when I distinguished a sledge, and the distorted 
proportions of a well-known form within. Oh ! with 
what a burning gush did hope revisit my heart! warm 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 187 

tears filled my eyes, which I hastily wiped aw r ay, that they 
might not intercept the view I had of the daemon; but 
still my sight was dimmed by the burning drops, until, 
giving way to the emotions that oppressed me, I wept 
aloud. 

But this w r as not the time for delay : I disencumbered 
the dogs of their dead companion, gave them a plentiful 
portion of food; and, after an hour’s rest, which was ab¬ 
solutely necessary, and yet which was bitterly irksome to 
me, I continued my route. The sledge was still visible; 
nor did I again lose sight of it, except at the moments 
when for a short time some ice-rock concealed it with its 
intervening crags. I indeed perceptibly gained on it; and 
when, after nearly two days’ journey, I beheld my enemy at 
no more than a mile distant, my heart bounded within me. 

But now, w T hen I appeared almost within grasp of my 
foe, my hopes -were suddenly extinguished, and I lost 
all trace of him more utterly than I had ever done before. 
A ground sea was heard ; the thunder of its progress, as 
the waters rolled and swelled beneath me, became every 
moment more ominous and terrific. I pressed on, but in 
vain The wind arose; the sea roared ; and, as with the 
mighty shock of an earthquake, it split, and cracked with a 
tremendous and overwhelming sound. The work was soon 
finished : in a few minutes a tumultuous sea rolled between 
me and my enemy, and I was left drifting on a scattered 
piece of ice, that w r as continually lessening, and thus pre¬ 
paring for me a hideous death. 

In this manner many appalling hours passed; several of 
my dogs died; and I myself was about to sink under the 
accumulation of distress, when I saw your vessel riding at 
anchor, and holding forth to me hopes of succour and life. 
I had no conception that vessels ever came so far north, and 
was astounded at the sight. I quickly destroyed part of 
my sledge to construct oars ; and by these means was en¬ 
abled, with infinite fatigue, to move my ice-raft in the di¬ 
rection of your ship. I had determined, if you were going 
southward, still to trust myself to the mercy of the seas 
rather than abandon my purpose. I hoped to induce you 
to grant me a boat with which I could pursue my enemy. 


188 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


But your direction was northward. You took me on board 
when my vigour was exhausted, and I should soon have 
sunk under my multiplied hardships into a death which I 
still dread— for my task is unfulfilled. 

Oh! when will my guiding spirit, in conducting me to 
the daemon, allow me the rest I so much desire; or must I 
die, and he yet live ? If I do, swear to me, Walton, that 
he shall not escape ; that you will seek him, and satisfy my 
vengeance in his death. And do I dare to ask of you to 
undertake my pilgrimage, to endure the hardships that I 
have undergone? No; I am not so selfish. Yet, when I 
am dead, if he should appear ; if the ministers of vengeance 
should conduct him to you, swear that he shall not live — 
swear that he shall not triumph over my accumulated woes, 
and survive to add to the list of his dark crimes. He is 
eloquent and persuasive; and once his words had even power 
over my heart: hut trust him not. His soul is as hellish as 
his form, full of treachery and fiendlike malice. Hear him 
not; call on the manes of William, Justine, Clerval, Eli¬ 
zabeth, my father, and of the wretched Victor, and thrust 
your sword into his heart. I will hover near, and direct 
the steel aright. 


Walton, in continuation. 

August ^6th, 17—. 

You have read this strange and terrific story, Margaret; 
and do you not feel your blood congeal with horror, like 
that which even now curdles mine ? Sometimes, seized with 
sudden agony, he could not continue his tale ; at others, 
his voice broken, yet piercing, uttered with difficulty the 
words so replete with anguish. His fine and lovely eyes were 
now lighted up with indignation, now subdued to downcast 
sorrow, and quenched in infinite wretchedness. Sometimes 
he commanded his countenance and tones, and related the 
most horrible incidents with a tranquil voice, suppressing 
every mark of agitation ; then, like a volcano bursting forth, 
his face would suddenly change to an expression of the 
wildest rage, as he shrieked out imprecations on his pei 
secutor. 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 18$ 

His tale is connected, and told with an appearance of the 
simplest truth; yet I own to you that the letters of Felix 
and Satie, which he showed me, and the apparition of the 
monster seen from our ship, brought to me a greater con¬ 
viction of the truth of his narrative than his asseverations, 
however earnest and connected. Such a monster has then 
really existence ! I cannot doubt it; yet I am lost in sur¬ 
prise and admiration. Sometimes I endeavoured to gain 
from Frankenstein the particulars of his creature's form- [ 
ation : but on this point he was impenetrable. 

“ Are you mad, my friend ? ” said he; “ or whither 
does your senseless curiosity lead you ? Would you also 
create for yourself and the world a demoniacal enemy ? 
Peace, peace ! learn my miseries, and do not seek to in¬ 
crease your own.” 

Frankenstein discovered that I made notes concerning 
his history: he asked to see them, and then himself cor¬ 
rected and augmented them in many places ; hut princi¬ 
pally in giving the life and spirit to the conversations he 
held with his enemy. “ Since you have preserved my nar¬ 
ration,” said he, “ I would not that a mutilated one should 
go down to posterity.” 

Thus has a week passed away, while I have listened to 
the strangest tale that ever imagination formed. My 
thoughts, and every feeling of my sou], have been drunk up 
by the interest for my guest, which this tale, and his own 
elevated and gentle manners, have created. I wish to soothe 
him ; yet can I counsel one so infinitely miserable, so des¬ 
titute of every hope of consolation, to live ? Oh, no ! the 
only joy that he can now know will be when he composes 
his shattered spirit to peace and death. Yet he enjoys one 
comfort, the offspring of solitude and delirium : he believes, 
that, when in dreams he holds converse with his friends, 
and derives from that communion consolation for his mi¬ 
series, or excitements to his vengeance, that they are not the 
creations of his fancy, but the beings themselves who visit 
him from the regions of a remote world. This faith gives 
a solemnity to his reveries that render them to me almost as 
imposing and interesting as truth. 

Our conversations are not always confined to his own 


FRANKENSTEIN; OR, 


190 

history and misfortunes. On every point of general litera¬ 
ture lie displays unbounded knowledge, and a quick and 
piercing apprehension. His eloquence is forcible and touch¬ 
ing ; nor can I hear him, when he relates a pathetic inci¬ 
dent, or endeavours to move the passions of pity or love, 
without tears. What a glorious creature must he have 
been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble 
and godlike in ruin! He seems to feel his own worth, and 
the greatness of his fall. 

“ When younger,” said he, “ I believed myself destined 
for some great enterprise. My feelings are profound; but 
I possessed a coolness of judgment that fitted me for illus¬ 
trious achievements. This sentiment of the worth of 
my nature supported me, when others would have been 
been oppressed; for I deemed it criminal to throw away in 
useless grief those talents that might be useful to my fellow- 
creatures. When I reflected on the work I had completed, 
no .less a one than the creation of a sensitive and rational 
animal, I could not rank myself with the herd of common 
projectors. But this thought, which supported me in the 
commencement of my career, now serves only to plunge me 
lower in the dust. All my speculations and hopes are as 
nothing; and, like the archangel who aspired to omnipo¬ 
tence, I am chained in an eternal hell. My imagination 
was vivid, yet my powers of analysis and application were 
intense ; by the union of these qualities I conceived the 
idea, and executed the creation of a man. Even now I 
cannot recollect, without passion, my reveries while the 
work was incomplete. I trod heaven in my thoughts, now 
exulting in my powers, now burning with the idea of their 
effects. From my infancy I was imbued with high hopes 
and a lofty ambition; but how am I sunk ! Oh ! my 
friend, if you had known me as I once was, you would not 
recognise me in this state of degradation. Despondency * 
rarely visited my heart; a high destiny seemed to bear me 
on, until I fell, never, never again to rise.” 

Must I then lose this admirable being ? I have longed 
for a friend; I have sought one who would sympathise 
with and love me. Behold, on these desert seas I have 
found such a one; but, I fear, I have gained him only to 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 191 

know his value, and lose him. I would reconcile him to 
life, but he repulses the idea. 

<e I thank you, W alton,” he said, for your kind in¬ 
tentions towards so miserable a wretch ; but when you speak 
of new ties, and fresh affections, think you that any can 
replace those who are gone ? Can any man be to me as 
Clerval was ; or any woman another Elizabeth ? Even 
where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior 
excellence* the companions of our childhood always possess 
a certain power over our minds, which hardly any later 
friend can obtain. They know our infantine dispositions, 
which, however they may be afterwards modified, are 
never eradicated; and they can judge of our actions with 
more certain conclusions as to the integrity of our motives. 
A sister or a brother can never, unless indeed such symp¬ 
toms have been shown early, suspect the other of fraud or 
false dealing, when another friend, however strongly he may 
he attached, may, in spite of himself, be contemplated with 
suspicion. But I enjoyed friends, dear not only through 
habit and association, but from their own merits ; and 
wherever I am, the soothing voice of my Elizabeth, and 
the conversation of Clerval, will be ever whispered in my 
ear. They are dead; and but one feeling in such a soli¬ 
tude can persuade me to preserve my life. If I were en¬ 
gaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with 
extensive utility to my fellow-creatures, then could I live to 
fulfil it. But such is not my destiny ; I must pursue and 
destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot 
on earth will be fulfilled, and I may die.” 

My beloved Sister, September 2d. 

I write to you, encompassed by peril, and ignorant 
whether I am ever doomed to see again dear England, and 
the dearer friends that inhabit it. I am surrounded by 
mountains of ice, which admit of no escape, and threaten 
every moment to crush my vessel. The brave fellows, 
whom I have persuaded to be my companions, look towards 
me for aid; but I have none to bestow. There is some¬ 
thing terribly appalling in our situation, yet my courage 
and hopes do not desert me. Yet it is terrible to reflect 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


192 

that the lives of all these men are endangered through me. 
If we are lost, my mad schemes are the cause. 

And what, Margaret, will be the state of your mind ? 
You will not hear of my destruction, and you will anxiously 
await my return. Years will pass, and you will have visit- 
ings of despair, and yet be tortured by hope. Oh ! my be¬ 
loved sister, the sickening failing of your heart-felt expect¬ 
ations is, in prospect, more terrible to me than my own 
death. But you have a husband, and lovely children; you 
may be happy : Heaven bless you, and make you so ! 

My unfortunate guest regards me with the tenderest 
compassion. He endeavours to fill me with hope; and 
talks as if life were a possession which he valued. He 
reminds me how often the same accidents have happened to 
other navigators, who have attempted this sea, and, in spite 
of myself, he fills me with cheerful auguries. Even the 
sailors feel the power of his eloquence: when he speaks, 
they no longer despair ; he rouses their energies, and, while 
they hear his voice, they believe these vast mountains of 
ice are mole-hills, which will vanish before the resolutions 
of man. These feelings are transitory ; each day of expect¬ 
ation delayed fills them with fear, and I almost dread a 
mutiny caused by this despair. 

September 5th. 

A scene has just passed of such uncommon interest, that 
although it is highly probable that these papers may never 
reach you, yet I cannot forbear recording it. 

We are still surrounded by mountains of ice, still in 
imminent danger of being crushed in their conflict. The 
cold is excessive, and many of my unfortunate comrades 
have already found a grave amidst this scene of desolation. 
Frankenstein has daily declined in health: a feverish fire 
still glimmers in his eyes; but he is exhausted, and, when 
suddenly roused to any exertion, he speedily sinks again 
into apparent lifelessness. 

I mentioned in my last letter the fears I entertained of a 
mutiny. This morning, as I sat watching the wan coun¬ 
tenance of my friend — his eyes half closed, and his limbs 
hanging listlessly, — I was roused by half a dozen of the 
Sailors, who demanded admission into the cabin. They 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 193 

entered, and their leader addressed me. He told me that 
he and his companions had been chosen by the other sailors 
to come in deputation to me, to make me a requisition, 
which, in justice, I could not refuse. We were immured 
in ice, and should probably never escape; but they feared 
that if, as was possible, the ice should dissipate, and a free 
passage be opened, I should be rash enough to continue 
my voyage, and lead them into fresh dangers, after they 
might happily have surmounted this. They insisted, there¬ 
fore, that I should engage with a solemn promise, that if 
the vessel should be freed I would instantly direct my 
course southward. 

This speech troubled me. I had not despaired; nor had 
I yet conceived the idea of returning, if set free. Yet 
could I, injustice, or even in possibility, refuse this demand? 
I hesitated before I. answered; when Frankenstein, who 
had at first been silent, and, indeed, appeared hardly to 
have force enough to attend, now roused himself; his eyes 
sparkled, and his cheeks flushed with momentary vigour. 
Turning towards the men, he said — 

“ What do you mean ? What do you demand of your cap¬ 
tain ? Are you then so easily turned from your design ? Did 
you not call this a glorious expedition ? And wherefore was 
it glorious ? Not because the way was smooth and placid 
as a southern sea, but because it was full of dangers and 
terror; because, at every new incident, your fortitude was 
to be called forth, and your courage exhibited; because 
danger and death surrounded it, and these you were to brave 
and overcome. For this was it a glorious, for this was it 
an honourable undertaking. You were hereafter to be 
hailed as the benefactors of your species; your names 
adored, as belonging to brave men who encountered death 
for honour, and the benefit of mankind. And now, behold, 
with the first imagination of danger, or, if you will, the 
first mighty and terrific trial of your courage, you shrink 
away, and are content to be handed down as men who had 
not strength enough to endure cold and peril; and so, poor 
souls, they w r ere chilly, and returned to their warm fire¬ 
sides. Why, that requires not this preparation; ye need 
not have come thus far, and dragged your captain to the 

o 


m 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


shame of a defeat, merely to prove yourselves cowards. 
Oh ! be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your 
purposes, and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of 
such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable, and cannot 
withstand you, if you say that it shall not. Do not return 
to your families with the stigma of disgrace marked on your 
brows. Return, as heroes who have fought and conquered, 
and who know not what it is to turn their backs on the 
foe.” 

He spoke this with a voice so modulated to the different * 
feelings expressed in his speech, with an eye so full of lofty 
design and heroism, that can you wonder that these men 
were moved ? They looked at one another, and were unable 
to reply. I spoke; I told them to retire, and consider of 
what had been said: that I would not lead them farther 
north, if they strenuously desired the contrary; but that I 
hoped that, with reflection, their courage would return. 

They retired, and I turned towards my friend; but he 
was sunk in languor, and almost deprived of life. 

How all this will terminate, I know not; but I had rather 
die than return shamefully, — my purpose unfulfilled. Yet 
I fear such will be my fate ; the men, unsupported by ideas 
of glory and honour, can never willingly continue to endure 
their present hardships. 

September 7th. 

The die is cast ; I have consented to return, if we are not 
destroyed. Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and 
indecision ; I come back ignorant and disappointed. It 
requires more philosophy than I possess, to bear this injus¬ 
tice with patience. 

September 12th. 

It is past; I am returning to England. I have lost my 
hopes of utility and glory ; — I have lost my friend. But 
I will endeavour to detail these bitter circumstances to you, 
my dear sister; and, while I am wafted towards England, 
and towards you, I will not despond. 

September 9th, the ice began to move, and roarings like 
thunder were heard at a distance, as the islands split and 
cracked in every direction. We were in the most imminent 
peril; but, as we could only remain passive, my chief atten- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 195 

tion was occupied by my unfortunate guest, whose illness 
increased in such a degree, that he was entirely confined to 
his bed. The ice cracked behind us, and was driven with 
force towards the north ; a breeze sprung from the west, 
and on the 11th the passage towards the south became per- 
, fectly free. When the sailors saw this, and that their 
return to their native country was apparently assured, a 
shout of tumultuous joy broke from them, loud and long- 
continued. Frankenstein, who was dozing, awoke, and 
asked the cause of the tumult. “ They shout,” I said, 
“ because they will soon return to England.” 

Do you then really return ? ” 

“ Alas ! yes; I cannot withstand their demands. I 
cannot lead them unwillingly to danger, and I must return.” 

“ Do so, if you will; but I will not. You may give 
up your purpose, but mine is assigned to me by Heaven, 
and I dare not. I am weak ; but surely the spirits who 
assist my vengeance will endow me with sufficient strength.” 
Saying this, he endeavoured to spring from the bed, but 
the exertion w r as too great for him ; he fell back, and 
fainted. 

It was long before he was restored; and I often thought 
that life was entirely extinct. At length he opened his 
eyes; he breathed with difficulty, and was unable to speak. 
The surgeon gave him a composing draught, and ordered 
us to leave him undisturbed. In the mean time he told 
me, that my friend had certainly not many hours to live. 

His sentence w r as pronounced; and I could only grieve, 
and be patient. I sat by his bed, watching him ; his eyes 
were closed, and I thought he slept; but presently he called 
to me in a feeble voice, and, bidding me come near, said 
— “ Alas ! the strength I relied on is gone; I feel that I 
shall soon die, and he, my enemy and persecutor, may still 
be in being. Think not, Walton, that in the last moments 
of my existence I feel that burning hatred, and ardent 
desire of revenge, I once expressed; but I feel myself jus¬ 
tified in desiring the death of my adversary. During these 
last days I have been occupied in examining my past con¬ 
duct ; nor do I find it blamable. In a fit of enthusiastic 
madness I created a rational creature, and was bound to- 

o 2 





1 96' FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 

wards him, to assure, as far as was in my power, his hap¬ 
piness and well-being. This was my duty ; but there was 
another still paramount to that. My duties towards the 
beings of my own species had greater claims to my atten¬ 
tion, because they included a greater proportion of happiness 
or misery. Urged by this view, I refused, and I did right 
in refusing, to create a companion for the first creature. 
He showed unparalleled malignity and selfishness, in evil: 
he destroyed my friends ; he devoted to destruction beings 
who possessed exquisite sensations, happiness, and wisdom; 
nor do I know where this thirst for vengeance may end. 
Miserable himself, that he may render no other wretched, 
he ought to die. The task of his destruction was mine, 
hut I have failed. When actuated by selfish and vicious 
motives, I asked you to undertake my unfinished work ; and 
I renew this request now, when I am only induced by 
reason and virtue. 

“ Yet I cannot ask you to renounce your country and 
friends, to fulfil this task ; and now, that you are returning 
to England, you will have little chance of meeting with 
him. But the consideration of these points, and the well 
balancing of what you may esteem your duties, I leave to 
you; my judgment and ideas are already disturbed by the 
near approach of death. I dare not ask you to do what I 
think right, for I may still be misled by passion. 

“ That he should live to be an instrument of mischief 
disturbs me ; in other respects, this hour, when I moment¬ 
arily expect my release, is the only happy one which I have 
enjoyed for several years. The forms of the beloved dead 
flit before me, and 1 hasten to their arms. Farewell, 
Walton ! Seek happiness in tranquillity, and avoid am¬ 
bition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of 
distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Yet why 
do I say this ? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, 
yet another may succeed/’ 

His voice became fainter as he spoke; and at length, 
exhausted by his effort, he sunk into silence. About half 
an hour afterwards he attempted again to speak, hut was 
unable; he pressed my hand feebly, and his eyes closed for 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 1Q7 

ever, while the irradiation of a gentle smile passed away 
from his lips. 

Margaret, what comment can I make on the untimely 
extinction of this glorious spirit ? What can I say, that 
will enable you to understand the depth of my sorrow ? 
All that I should express would be inadequate and feeble. 
My tears flow ; my mind is overshadowed by a cloud of 
disappointment. But I journey towards England, and I 
may there find consolation. 

I am interrupted. What do these sounds portend ? It 
is midnight; the breeze blows fairly, and the watch on deck 
scarcely stir. Again ; there is a sound as of a human voice, 
but hoarser; it comes from the cabin where the remains of 
Frankenstein still lie. I must arise, and examine. Good 
night, my sister. 

Great God ! what a scene has just taken place ! I am 
yet dizzy with the remembrance of it. I hardly know whether 
I shall have the power to detail it; yet the tale which I 
have recorded would be incomplete without this final and 
wonderful catastrophe. 

I entered the cabin, where lay the remains of my ill-fated 
and admirable friend. Over him hung a'form which I 
cannot find words to describe; gigantic in stature, yet un¬ 
couth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the 
coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair ; 
but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent 
texture like that of a mummy. When he heard the sound 
of my approach, he ceased to utter exclamations of grief 
and horror, and sprung towards the window. Never did I 
behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, 
yet appalling hideousness. I shut my eyes involuntarily, 
and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with 
regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay. 

He paused, looking on me with wonder; and, again 
turning towards the lifeless form of his creator, he seemed 
to forget my presence, and every feature and gesture seemed 
instigated by the wildest rage of some uncontrollable passion. 

“ That is also my victim!” he exclaimed: “ in his 
murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series 
of my being is wound to its close ! Oh, Frankenstein! 

o 3 


FRANKENSTEIN ; OR, 


198 

generous and self-devoted being! what does it avail that I 
now ask thee to pardon me ? I, who irretrievably destroyed 
thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas ! he is cold, he 
cannot answer me.” 

His voice seemed suffocated; and my first impulses, 
which had suggested to me the duty of obeying the dying 
request of my friend, in destroying his enemy, were now 
suspended by a mixture of curiosity and compassion. I 
approached this tremendous being ,* I dared pot again raise 
my eyes to his face, there was something so scaring and 
unearthly in his ugliness. I attempted to speak, but the 
words died away on my lips. The monster continued to 
utter wild and incoherent self-reproaches. At length I 
gathered resolution to address him in a pause of the tem¬ 
pest of his passion: ff Your repentance,” I said, f ‘is now 
superfluous. If you had listened to the voice of conscience, 
and heeded the stings of remorse, before you had urged 
your diabolical vengeance to this extremity, Frankenstein 
would yet have lived. 

“ And do you dream ? ” said the daemon ; “ do you think 
that I was then dead to agony and remorse ? — He,” he 
continued, pointing to the corpse, “ he suffered not in the 
consummation of the deed—oh ! not the ten-thousandth 
portion of the anguish that was mine during the lingering 
detail of its execution. A frightful selfishness hurried me 
on, while my heart was poisoned with remorse. Think you 
that the groans of Clerval were music to my ears ? My 
heart was fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy ; 
and, when wrenched by misery to vice and hatred, it did 
not endure the violence of the change, without torture such 
as you cannot even imagine. 

After the murder of Clerval, I returned to Switzerland, 
heart-broken and overcome. I pitied Frankenstein; my 
pity amounted to horror: I abhorred myself. But when I 
discovered that he, the author at once of my existence and 
of its unspeakable torments, dared to hope for happiness ; 
that while he accumulated wretchedness and despair upon 
me, he sought his own enjoyment in feelings and passions 
from the indulgence of which I was for ever barred, then 
impotent envy and bitter indignation filled me with an in- 


THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. 199 

satiable thirst for vengeance. I recollected my threat, and 
resolved that it should be accomplished. I knew that I was 
preparing for myself a deadly torture; but I was the slave, 
not the master, of an impulse, which I detested, yet could 
not disobey. Yet when she died!—nay, then 1 was not 
miserable. I had cast off all feeling, subdued all anguish, 
to riot in the excess of my despair. Evil thenceforth be¬ 
came my good. Urged thus far, I had no choice but to 
adapt my nature to an element which I had willingly 
chosen. The completion of my demoniacal design became 
an insatiable passion. And now it is ended; there is my 
last victim !” 

I was at first touched by the expressions of his misery; 
yet, when I called to mind what Frankenstein had said of 
his powers of eloquence and persuasion, and when I again 
cast my eyes on the lifeless form of my friend, indignation 
w&s rekindled within me. “ Wretch ! ” I said, “ it is well 
that you come here to whine over the desolation that you 
have made. You throw a torch into a pile of buildings; 
and, when they are consumed, you sit among the ruins, and 
lament the fall. Hypocritical fiend ! if he whom you 
mourn still lived, still would he be the object, again would 
he become the prey, of your accursed vengeance. It is 
not pity that you feel; you lament only because the victim 
of your malignity is withdrawn from your power.” 

“Oh, it is not thus — not thus,” interrupted the being; 
“ yet such must be the impression conveyed to you by what 
appears to be the purport of my actions. Yet I seek not a 
fellow-feeling in my misery. No sympathy may I ever 
find. When I first sought it, it was the love of virtue, 
the feelings of happiness and affection with which my 
whole being overflowed, that I wished to be participated. 
But now, that virtue has become to me a shadow, artd that 
happiness and affection are turned into bitter and loathing 
despair, in what should I seek for sympathy ? I am content 
to suffer alone, while my sufferings shall endure: when I 
die, I am well satisfied that abhorrence and opprobrium 
should load my memory. Once my fancy was soothed 
with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Once 
I falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning my 


200 


FRANKENSTEIN j OR, 


outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities 
which I was capable of unfolding. I was nourished with 
high thoughts of honour and devotion. But now crime has 
degraded me beneath the meanest animal. No guilt, no 
mischief, no malignity, no misery, can be found comparable 
to mine. When I run over the frightful catalogue of my 
sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose 
thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent 
visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness. But it 
is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. 
Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and asso¬ 
ciates in his desolation; I am alone. 

You, who call Frankenstein your friend, seem to have 
a knowledge of my crimes and his misfortunes. But, in 
the detail which he gave you of them, he could not sum up 
the hours and months of misery which I endured, wasting 
in impotent passions. For while I destroyed his hopes, I 
did not satisfy my own desires. They were for ever ardent 
and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I 
was still spurned. Was there no injustice in this? Am 
I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind 
sinned against me? Why do you not hate Felix, who 
drove his friend from his door with contumely ? Why do 
you not execrate the rustic who sought to destroy the 
saviour of his child ? Nay, these are virtuous and imma¬ 
culate beings ! I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an 
abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on. 
Even now my blood boils at the recollection of this 
injustice. 

“ But it is true that I am a wretch. I have murdered 
the lovely and the helpless ; I have strangled the innocent 
as they slept, and grasped to death his throat who never 
injured me or any other living thing. I have devoted my 
creator, the select specimen of all that is worthy of love 
and admiration among men, to misery ; I have pursued 
him even to that irremediable ruin. There he lies, white 
and cold in death. You hate me; but your abhorrence 
cannot equal that with which I regard myself. I look on 
the hands which executed the deed ; I think on the heart 
in which the imagination of it was conceived, and long for 


THE MODERN - PROMETHEUS. 201 

the moment when these hands will meet my eyes, when 
that imagination will haunt my thoughts, no more. 

“ Fear not that I shall be the instrument of future mis¬ 
chief. My work is nearly complete. Neither yours nor 
any man’s death is needed to consummate the series of my 
being, and accomplish that which must be done ; but it 
requires my own. Do not think that I shall be slow to 
perform this sacrifice., I shall quit your vessel on the ice- 
raft which brought me thither, and shall seek the most 
northern extremity of the globe ; I shall collect my funeral 
pile, and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its 
remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed 
wretch, who would create such another as I have been. I 
shall die. I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume 
me, or be the prey of feelings unsatisfied, yetunquenched. He 
is dead who called me into being; and when I shall be no 
more, the very remembrance of us both will speedily vanish. 
I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the winds play 
on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense will pass away ; 
and in this condition must I find my happiness. Some 
years ago, when the images which this world affords first 
opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of sum¬ 
mer, and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling 
of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept 
to die ; now it is my only consolation. Polluted by crimes, 
and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but 
in death ? 

“ Farewell! I leave you, and in you the last of human 
kind whom these eyes will ever behold. Farewell, Frank¬ 
enstein ! If thou wert yet alive, and yet cherished a desire 
of revenge against me, it would be better satiated in my 
life than in my destruction. But it was not so; thou 
didst seek my extinction, that I might not cause greater 
wretchedness; and if yet, in some mode unknown to me, 
thou hadst not ceased to think and feel, thou wouldst not 
desire against me a vengeance greater than that which I 
feel. Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to 
thine ; for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle 
in ny wounds until death shall close them for ever. 


202 


FRANKENSTEIN. 


<f But soon, 3 ’ he cried, with sad and solemn enthusiasm, 
I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon 
these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my 
funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the 
torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade 
away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. 
My spirit will sleep in peace ; or if it thinks, it will not 
surely think thus. Farewell.” 

He sprung from the cabin-window, as he said this, upon 
the ice-raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne 
away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance. 


THE ENJ). 


I 

/ 


London: 

SpoTTtswoouES and Shaw, 
New-street-Square. 




























































































